Football can be cruel at times, especially when you’re playing against some of the top teams.

That proved to be the case on Saturday at Vicarage Road, as Watford were harshly beaten 2-1 by Chelsea, thanks to late goals from Michy Batshuayi and Diego Costa.

In truth the Golden Boys deserved at least a point, but they were made to pay for two silly mistakes which ultimately proved to be costly against a quality Chelsea side.

The match reminded me of Watford’s defeat at home to Manchester City in January. Watford had played superbly well for 80 minutes on that day and were leading going into the closing stages.

City hadn’t really troubled Watford too much but during the final 10 minutes they came alive, with goals from Yaya Toure and Sergio Aguero securing Manuel Pellergrini’s men a rather undeserved victory.

It was a case of deja vu at the Vic against Chelsea.

Watford were fantastic for large parts of the game and they were arguably the better team for 70 to 80 minutes. They had kept the Blues at arms length for most of the game and Antonio Conte’s men were struggling to create many clear-cut chances going into the last ten minutes.

However, a mistake from Heurelho Gomes left Batshuayi with a tap-in and seven minutes later, Adlene Guedioura needlessly gave the ball away to Cesc Fabregas, who played a stunning pass into the path of Costa, who calmly put Chelsea in front. In seven minutes, the match had been turned on its head.

Conte’s substitutes helped the Blues to win the game and while Guedioura has to take part of the blame for Chelsea’s second, you’ve got to admire Fabregas’ ball into the path of Costa. It was played to perfection and there was nothing our defence could do about it.

Despite the loss, there were plenty of positives to take from Saturday’s match. It was a fine performance from the Golden Boys, who played some great football over the course of the 90 minutes.

One of the many positives to come out from the game was the performance of Nordin Amrabat. The Moroccan was superb and was our best player in my opinion.

Amrabat didn’t stop running all afternoon and combined his attacking and defensive duties well. He got forward at every opportunity and showed great strength to hold off Cesar Azpilicueta after a barnstorming 50-yard run.

Amrabat played a couple of superb crosses into the box and also did well defensively, helping out Craig Cathcart whenever he could. He’s been a revelation at wing-back in my opinion and was at the heart of our best attacking moves.

Another positive to come out from Saturday’s game was Etienne Capoue. The Frenchman scored a cracking goal in the 55th minute to put the Hornets ahead and it was great to see the 28-year-old on the scoresheet again.

One thing which was lacking from Capoue’s game last season was some composure in front of goal and it appears the former Tottenham Hotspur man has worked on that this summer.

Last season Capoue would have skied the chance he had, but this time the Frenchman was composed, controlling the ball on his chest and hammering it into the top corner. It was a finish any striker would be proud of. It capped off another excellent display from the midfielder and let’s hope his injury isn’t too serious, as he’s going to be a very important player for us this season.

All in all, a last-gasp defeat was a bitter pill to swallow for Watford fans inside Vicarage Road but there are plenty of reasons to be optimistic following the Golden Boys' display.

If we can replicate that performance on a regular basis throughout the season and cut out the mistakes, then we’ll be absolutely fine this year.

We should take some heart from Watford’s performance and look forward to the match against Arsenal on Saturday.

Bradley Hayden is the founder and sole writer of @WatfordFCBlog