Monthly Archives: March 2016

13th March 2016-FA Cup Sixth Round, Arsenal 1 Watford 2

Programme images courtesy of Matt Hall

http://watford.fcdb.info/index.php?page=matches

Watford stunned FA Cup holders Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium to book their place in the semi-finals at Wembley.

Odion Ighalo and Adlene Guedioura goals dump holders out of FA Cup

It’s 4pm. We’ve opted against the scrum for the tube in favour of a leisurely walk in the sunshine back to Kings Cross. There’s a workman painting a doorway on Caledonian Road, the Kinks’ “Sunny Afternoon” rumbles out of his radio. It’s a perfect soundtrack for what is a necessary but overlooked feature of stunning days like this one… the dazed post-match taking-it-all-in thing.

The second goal was a thing of beauty. Deeney did tremendously well to hold the ball up in the box then he passed it out to Guedioura and WELLY!!! The shot nearly burst the net and would have knocked out someone in the upper tier if it had. If the first goal celebration had been joyous, this one was truly mental and, suddenly, the Watford fans started thinking that we could actually win this, and those of us who had been calling for Adlene’s replacement were left with egg on our faces.

Watford’s joy was unfettered at the end of it all and rightly so. What a coup to accompany a promising Premier League season as a newly promoted side! Their players danced in front of the supporters after the final whistle. Even some of the home fans felt able to applaud them off, appreciative of their efforts on the day.

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https://oldwatford.com/2019/03/16/16th-march-2019-fa-cup-sixth-round-watford-2-crystal-palace-1/

2nd March 2016- Premier League, Manchester United 1 Watford 0

I will always find it quite hard to forgive Ighalo for not passing to Deeney to put us 1-0 up.

https://watford.fcdb.info/index.php?page=matches

https://www.premierleague.com/en/match/803439/manchester-united-vs-watford/overview

BBC: Had Ighalo not shot wide from Troy Deeney’s flick-on or chose to pass to his strike partner when David de Gea thwarted the Nigerian, the story of the match may have been very different.

Fran’s Watford Blog: It was a cruel result. Watford had been tremendous and were defeated by a lovely set piece in a game that they should have won. We had created most of the decent chances, but failed to finish so were punished. You have to feel for Ighalo whose confidence is low. He appears desperate to score and is getting into tremendous positions, but just cannot find the net. It was very pleasing to see Capoue back on form and, in fact, to see the whole team harrying their opponents and working their socks off. Quite rightly the Watford fans stood to cheer their team off, a marked contrast to the home fans who had long gone.

Independent, 3 Mar 2016

Evening Standard, 3 Mar 2016

Guardian, 3 Mar 2016