Chelsea’s match at Watford was suspended for around 25 minutes due to a medical emergency in the stands at Vicarage Road. Medical staff from both teams sprinted onto the pitch and into one of the stands to attend to a supporter.
The match was initially halted around the 10th minute for Watford’s Adam Masina to be treated for an injury.
However, Blues left-back Marcos Alonso could be seen furiously gesticulating towards the dugout.
It turned out that the Spaniard was alerting medics towards a serious incident in the stand closest to him.
Staff sprinted across the pitch and towards the stand where supporters led them towards the unwell fan.
Players from both teams were led back to the dressing room while the supporter, who was reportedly a man, was given treatment.
Amazon Prime reporter Jo Ankier said that the players were refusing to come back onto the pitch until they heard positive news.
Ankier continued that the supporter has been stabilised and is in hospital where they will undergo further checks.
Watford General Hospital is on the same road as Watford’s stadium.
Players were off the pitch for almost 25 minutes while the fan received treatment and was taken away. They were allowed a five minute warm-up upon returning to the pitch.
Referee David Coote could be seen in conversation with members of both teams’ backroom staff before the players returned to the pitch.
Watford’s medical staff received a standing ovation as they returned to the substitutes’ bench.
The score was 0-0 before the incident. Danny Rose replaced the injured Masina who could no longer continue.
Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea side had been poor in the opening 10 minutes. Trevoh Chalobah needed to make an excellent block to deny Josh King the opening goal.
King was lurking at the back post ready to tap into an empty net, only for academy graduate Chalobah to come out of nowhere to deny an almost certain goal.
Watford have improved in recent weeks under new boss Claudio Ranieri despite Sunday’s 4-2 defeat by Leicester.
They beat Manchester United 4-1 the week prior and also recorded an impressive 5-2 success over Everton prior to the November international break.
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