Fan’s cardiac arrest temporarily halts Watford's game against Chelsea

Watford's game against Chelsea was temporarily halted after a medical emergency in the stands on Wednesday night.

A fan suffered a cardiac arrest 12 minutes into the match and medical staff from both teams raced across the pitch to help.

They were stabilised and carried out on a stretcher to be taken to hospital.

The players were off the pitch for around 25 minutes before returning to the field for a five-minute warm-up and the match resumed with the clock set at 12 minutes.

When asked about the incident, Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel said: “All the best from us, all thoughts from Chelsea and from the dressing room. Hopefully everything is going well – that is the most important thing.”

Chelsea won a hard-fought game 2-1.

Watford manager Claudio Ranieri believes his side deserved at least a point after pushing the league leaders all the way through the match.

“What can I say? It’s unbelievable what happened, but that’s football,” said the Watford boss.

“I’m very satisfied and very proud of my players and we must continue this way.

“I think we deserved at least a point, we played very, very well. I’m very proud of my players, that’s it.”