Monthly Archives: October 2020

31st October 2020- Championship, Barnsley 1 Watford 0

https://www.skysports.com/football/barnsley-vs-watford/teams/429801

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The Hornets’ black third kit is, as Ben Foster would say, “a thing of beauty”, but it’s not a particularly lucky strip right now. It’s now played two, lost two and no goals scored after the team followed up the 1-0 defeat at Reading with a repeat at Oakwell.

The game was as Championship as it gets. It was cold, miserable, took place on a heavy pitch, wasn’t pretty and came against the side who have spent more time in this division that anyone else: 76 seasons. Barnsley adapted by far the better, were more streetwise and deserved the victory on the back of the quality of the only goal of the game after six minutes.

Alex Mowatt crashed a beauty past Ben Foster that gave the England ‘keeper absolutely no chance. Foster has been outstanding in two of the last three matches, but he didn’t ever lay a glove on this left-foot howitzer from the Barnsley captain.

The Hornets played in spells thereafter and got slightly more fluent as the game went on, but the fact they didn’t muster an attempt on target told its own story. There were cameo returns from Andre Gray and Will Hughes in the last quarter of the match and their contribution will only increase as they get fitter and stronger, but this was not a good afternoon.

The first half was a tough watch. The team couldn’t find their passing range, particularly when trying to playing out from their own half, and Barnsley swarmed all over them.

They pounced on a loose pass from Ben Wilmot to Étienne Capoue after just six minutes and Alex Mowatt capitalised to devastating effect, rattling one in from 20 yards that gave a rooted Foster absolutely no chance. He could only escort it into the back of the next with a turn of his head.

It was the validation Barnsley needed that they were on the right track under Head Coach Valérien Ismaël, that they could press the Hornets high and get some joy. The Hornets just couldn’t navigate a way out of their own half and play cohesively through the thirds. The only real joy they did get came down the right. Ismaïla Sarr flashed one across the face for João Pedro like he did against Blackburn; Tom Cleverley almost put Sarr in with a quickly-taken free-kick and then Kiko Femenía, again down the right, drilled in another low cross.

There must have been a directive at half-time to go slightly more long or, at the very least, mix it up as, just before the hour, a raking pass from the heart of the defence from William Troost-Ekong picked out Sarr. He scorched passed his man, fizzed it across the goalmouth and there was Tom Cleverley. He went at it with his favoured right foot, instead of his slightly weaker left, and the shot skewed wide. The captain remained on his haunches for a few seconds, knowing what a chance it was.

An even better chance fell Barnsley’s way shortly after, substitute George Miller stabbing one wide of the far post with just Foster to beat. That chance, which would have killed the game had it been taken, prompted action from Ivić. He sent on James Garner for Nathaniel Chalobah and then Gray for William Troost-Ekong, while in between times Wilmot saw a downward header bounce just over the angle of post and bar from a Ken Sema corner. That was as close as the Hornets came.

Hughes marched on towards the end in a sight many will have cheered from home. More of the energy, drive and commitment he showed last season is needed in this chaotic spell before Christmas. Fully fit, he could be the spark that helps ignite this clearly talented team.

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Vladimir Ivic concerned after Watford lose to Barnsley

Watford players rated after defeat at Barnsley

Ben Wilmot takes the blame for Watford defeat at Barnsley

The Tykes took the lead after just six minutes courtesy of a screamer from captain Mowatt, whose effort from outside the box flew in off the inside of the post.

Watford carried a greater threat after the break without seriously discomfiting home keeper Jack Walton, but boss Vladimir lvic chose to keep £18.5m striker Andre Gray on the bench until the 76th minute.

Barnsley opened at a blistering pace. We’ve seen some aggressive pressing this season but this was something else altogether, rabid and ferocious. William Troost-Ekong’s third-minute booking was a bit harsh, but it reflected the degree to which we were already rattled. The home side capitalised… a slack pass from Wilmot didn’t reach Capoue, Alex Mowatt seized it and pinged a tremendous shot into the top corner. It wasn’t that far away from Ben Foster in truth as his reaction betrayed but it was a hell of a strike.

27th October 2020- Championship, Wycombe Wanderers 1 Watford 1

1-0

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Ismaīla Sarr can, it seems, do it in front of a packed house against the champions as well as an empty one in the Championship.

The Senegal forward would not have expected his next Watford goal following his coming-of-age double against Liverpool in February to come eight months later in a behind-closed-doors Championship game against Wycombe Wanderers, but Sarr is so free-spirited and lacking in ego that he won’t care who the goals come against or even who scores them. He would even have traded his early second-half header here against the Chairboys for three points because, as it turned out, it only came in a draw that felt very different to the one gained against Bournemouth on Saturday.

The expectation was that the third-placed Hornets would win this one against second-bottom and pointless Wycombe, but the Championship is famed for not going according to the form book and this was a stark reminder this division can throw up an unexpected result. This wasn’t, though, a smash-and-grab from the home side – they fully deserved the point they picked up and could lay a fairly decent claim to having merited all three.

Ben Foster was the man of the match for the second midweek game in a row and that spoke volumes for the number and quality of chances the home created. It was difficult to believe this was their first point of the season and indeed their first at this level.

Vladimir Ivić promised a difficult match and the Head Coach was spot on. Wycombe gave the Hornets a searching examination, particularly of their physical capabilities, and even the most partisan Watford fan couldn’t have grumbled if their beloved team had found themselves at least a goal down at the break.

The Chairboys fashioned four chances, from half chances to gilt-edged ones, in the last third of the half and Gareth Ainsworth, the Wycombe manager, couldn’t quite believe his side didn’t take one of them. He was jumping up and down in the technical area, unable to fathom how his side hadn’t added to their two goals so far this season.

Scott Kashket forced a low saw from Foster; Akinfenwa had the Watford ‘keeper flying high to his right; the handful of a striker blazed over from close range and then William Troost-Ekong produced a wonderful goal-saving tackle to deny Daryl Horgan in first-half injury time. They really did give this miserly Hornets defence a going over, in a different way to a more progressive side Blackburn did last week. You thought they might judging by the way Horgan closed Cathcart down virtually from the kick-off, a clear sign the visitors were going to be in for a tricky night.

Perhaps the Hornets were not used to having so much of the ball, enjoying 64.7 per cent of the possession and completing more than 100 more passes than their hosts in the first period. They did manage to spray a few lovely cross-field passes across the slick Adams Park pitch, Étienne Capoue, Domingos Quina and Troost-Ekong finding their range in particular, but they were not particularly effective in possession. There was a shot early on from the returning Capoue that he didn’t quite catch as he hoped, Ken Sema and Kiko Femenía flashed one each across the face of goal while João Pedro bundled one in with his hand. But, all in all, Ivić would definitely have been demanding more at the break. It was probably the most unhappy he had been at half-time since the game at Hillsborough.

His mood would not have improved when David Wheeler and then Akinfenwa, again, forced smart saves from Foster low to his right. It looked for all the world that Wycombe would eventually score the game’s first goal, but as the Hornets learnt so painfully in the Premier League, you get punished, and punished heavily, for not taking your chances. Less than 60 seconds after Akinfenwa’s chance, Watford swept up the field down the right, Christian Kabasele played in Femenía who fed over a wonderful cross that Sarr nodded in. Sarr is not prone to huge displays of emotion and he kept his celebrations even more muted as he knew the visitors were very fortunate to find themselves in front.

But ahead they were and you expected them then to close the game out, manage the game with the vast experience they have in their ranks and keep Wycombe at arm’s-length. It didn’t pan out that way and Wycombe came again, regaining their composure to level things up with a header from Anthony Stewart. Ivić will have been disappointed the goal again originated from a corner from the right.

Foster remained the busier of the two ‘keepers and he made another very decent low save, this time from Kashket, to prevent his team from failing behind. Indeed, the visitors would have been glad to see the back of Kashket and Akinfenwa in the last ten minutes.

There was still time for one last heart-in-mouth moment when Wycombe bundled in a disallowed one in injury-time from yet another corner that caused havoc while Glenn Murray, on as a late sub, was a whisker away from finding the bottom corner with one at the death.

But, all in all, it was a relief to come away with a point as this was a game the team would have lost last season, particularly during Project Restart. They are made of slightly sterner stuff under Ivić, plus they have Will Hughes, Andre Gray and Troy Deeney on their way back. They’ll get more fluid as the season progresses.

Watford draw away at Wycombe Wanderers

Wycombe Wanderers peg back Watford at Adams Park

Vladimir Ivic felt Watford were lucky not to lose at Wycombe

Watford players rated after Wycombe Wanderers steal a point

Vladimir Ivic wants Watford to adapt to Championship physicality

Ben Foster claims Watford have been average this season

Wycombe secured their first Sky Bet Championship point of the season with a 1-1 draw at home to Watford, but Gareth Ainsworth’s side could easily have claimed all three.

Ismaila Sarr headed home Kiko Femenia’s inch-perfect cross to open the scoring for the visitors against the run of play in the 52nd minute. But Wycombe, who lost their opening seven league matches coming into this fixture, were soon level as defender Anthony Stewart nodded in Joe Jacobson’s corner midway through the second half.

We can’t complain with a point, and no away point is a bad point. An away point at Wycombe might look a lot better in a month or two’s time than it does now. But we need to be able to score imperfect, scruffy goals if we’re going to be the cruelly effective side that we ought to be. We need a striker fit.

24th October 2020- Championship, Watford 1 AFC Bournemouth 1

https://www.skysports.com/football/watford-vs-bmouth/teams/429788

1-0

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Well, that was almost the perfect way to atone for a red card.

Stipe Perica has been itching to get back playing after his red card at Newport County which landed him a three-game ban, a suspension that would have flashed by in just about any other time of the season. But the nature of the fixtures meant he has had to wait a month to put it right and boy did he do that in the lunchtime kick-off with Bournemouth.

The Croat, who looks absolutely tailormade for the Championship, took just 11 minutes to get back in everyone’s good books and his Watford career is now up and running. The striker is only 25, packing plenty in already having played in five different counties, but he has already forged a reputation of scoring in the big games. He has registered goals against Ajax, Turkish giants Trabzonspor, Roma, Napoli, Juventus and a winner against AC Milan – and now has one in a game that matters a lot to the Watford fans.

There is plenty of spice between the Hornets and the Cherries, dating back to two action-packed seasons in the Championship, so Perica’s goal would have been cheered loudly by those Hornets at home. It was just a shame it didn’t end in a victory, as it should have done, Chris Mepham scrambling one home deep into injury time. These games against Bournemouth are never lacking in drama.

Perica looked like he was going to emerge as the match-winner on his full league debut. He showed terrific instinct, the sort that persuaded Chelsea to sign him as a teenager, to sense where Ismaïla Sarr was going to deliver his ball across the face of goal and slid it in at the far post with his left foot. It all originated, though, from a stunning cross-field pass from Craig Cathcart, one that Étienne Capoue would have been proud of.

It represented the high point of a very good half from the 50-cap Northern Ireland international. There were a couple of good defensive clearances, a towering header he won when up against Dominic Solanke at the end of the first half and, to sum up the confidence he was playing with, a free-kick he took with his left foot to find Sarr.

Cathcart’s performance was emblematic of a showing that had the Head Coach stamped all over it. The Hornets were at it, perhaps fired up by a high challenge early on from Lloyd Kelly on Sarr. Tom Cleverley, in particular, was furious and he snapped into tackles on Arnaut Danjuma and Lewis Cook. Following his captain’s lead, James Garner picked up a yellow card for a tackle in the middle of the park, Sarr got in on the act with a challenge on Diego Rico by the dugout, Nathaniel Chalobah made a well-timed and well-needed interception on Joshua King and likewise with the excellent William Troost-Ekong on Solanke. And this was all in the first half.

Vladimir Ivić wasn’t resting on his laurels at the break, bringing on the most recent winner of the Player of the Season trophy in Capoue for Garner. And the French maestro was straight at it, playing a couple of wall passes in midfield before setting Sarr free with a wonderful ball over the top. He really is a joy to watch at times. Sarr should really have scored, seeing his effort saved by Asmir Begović.

Ben Foster, at the other end, didn’t have much to do, making a routine first save from Solanke on the half-hour and then a much better one on the hour. Jeremy Ngakia then almost muscled one in from a cross-shot while Sarr, who came in for some rough treatment, shot wildly over the edge of the box when a free-kick dropped his way. Domingos Quina, on as a sub, hit the target with two that dipped and swerved, causing Begović enough of a problem that he had to shovel it away for a corner and flap at another.

Bournemouth made more of the running in the second half, while the Hornets played on the counter, so it was probably not completely unjust the visitors claimed a late equaliser from a corner. They probably just about deserved it on the balance of play. Ivić, who loves nothing more than a 1-0, would been livid as the Hornets were so agonisingly close to a fifth clean sheet in seven matches and a fifth win. Still, 14 points from seven games represents a very decent start.

Live updates as Watford host Bournemouth at Vicarage Road

Watford pegged back by injury-time AFC Bournemouth equaliser

Vladimir Ivic calls for logic after Watford draw with Bournemouth

Watford players rated after Bournemouth draw

Watford’s Ken Sema wants to improve along with his teammates

Chris Mepham scored a stoppage-time equaliser at Watford to extend Bournemouth’s unbeaten start to the Championship season.

The Cherries – who were fortunate not to have Lloyd Kelly sent off early on – conceded the opener, when Croatian frontman Stipe Perica slid his first goal for the club since a summer move from Udinese (12).

The last home win in a game between the two sides came at Bournemouth in January 2015, abetted in part by an early (and later rescinded) red card for Gabriele Angella. There should have been an early red card here… with a crowd to bellow it’s objection, or had the challenge come ten minutes later then surely the Cherries would have been down to ten.

21st October 2020- Championship, Watford 3 Blackburn Rovers 1

https://www.skysports.com/football/watford-vs-blackburn/teams/429776

1-0

2-0

3-1

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Who said games involving Watford this season were boring?

The Hornets doubled their goal tally for the season inside 50 minutes on the back of their most fluid attacking display and yet were so fast and loose going forward they inadvertently treated connoisseurs in the art of goalkeeping to an absolute masterclass from Ben Foster, including a stunning second-half penalty save. It was a bonkers game, really, and could have ended 5-5.

The helter-skelter nature of it will take a bumper Hive Live show to explain and will no doubt have infuriated Vladimir Ivić, who loves a 1-0, and former defender Tony Mowbray, the Blackburn boss, but the games come so thick and face in this chaotic league that you just move on, gratefully accept another three points, the fourth maximum haul of the season, and move swiftly onto the next one.

The main takeaways were that, in the magnificent Foster, the Hornets have the best ‘keeper in the league, that this represented the first time the Golden Boys had won three in a row at home since Christmas, the first time they had scored three at home since that memorable win over Liverpool in February and, perhaps most importantly, they are up to third in the league and motoring nicely.

Étienne Capoue is also back, making his first appearance since July 11 and reminding everyone of his class with a double nutmeg late on; James Garner looks a player of real promise while João Pedro is developing really nice and now has three goals this season.

It really was a curious first half. Foster was by far the busier of the two keepers, making three saves that would otherwise have resulted in goals. Christian Kabasele was lucky to not receive a straight red card for denying a goalscoring opportunity and the home side had to feed off a third of the possession and yet they found themselves 2-1 up at the break.

The fact they were, was down to the fact they were ruthless in front of goal, plundering two in the space of four minutes. It also helps when you have a player of Garner’s gifts, a player so keen to pass forward and probe defenders. He sent Kiko Femenía haring down the right on the overlap for João Pedro to neatly tuck in the first after 13 minutes. Garner was at it again less than 360 seconds later, selecting the pitching wedge from his bag this time to send Ismaïla Sarr sprinting down the same right-hand flank. He saw his shot, cleverly fired across the face of goal, saved by Thomas Kaminski and there was Cleverley in support and on hand to nod the ball into an empty net. It was Cleverley’s first goal since the thrilling 2-2 draw with Arsenal here last season.

The Hornets had only mustered three goals in their previous five games and here they had two in 17 minutes. You wondered, at that stage, if they might cut loose and go for the jugular.

But Blackburn showed why they are the league’s leading scorers by coming at the home side real hard before and after the double strike. Foster saved one from Adam Armstrong that dipped and swerved all over the place from right to left. The ‘keeper then saved headers from Darragh Lenihan and Corry Evans in quick succession. So much for the Hornets having faced the second fewest shots on target in the league this season. With the fourth on target in a breathless first half-hour, Blackburn pulled one back with a fine snapshot strike from Ben Brereton. It was now very much game on after just 28 minutes.

The game had now very much loosened its top button and it was end-to-end stuff at times. The emphasis was very much on attack rather than defence.

João Pedro was a whisker away from restoring the two-goal lead before the break following a blistering burst of pace and then cross from Sarr. Everyone had just about caught their breath at half-time and the vast majority at home were just settling down with a cuppa when the Hornets made it three four minutes after the break.

Ken Sema engineered half a yard for himself down the left and whipped off a teasing cross, an absolute nightmare for defenders that Lenihan, under pressure from Sarr, inadvertently turned into his own net. It was the bit of breathing space the team needed as Blackburn came to have a real go and needed to be kept at arm’s-length throughout.

They refused to go away though, refused to be intimidated by the sight of Capoue striding off the bench on the hour. They forced another fine save from the overworked Foster, this time a finger-tip one to deny Armstrong while Nathaniel Chalobah had to bravely chuck himself in front of one from Bradley Johnson. Rovers were causing the Hornets more problems than any side this season and this game was by no means dead.

It threatened to take another twist when Craig Cathcart got the wrong side of Lewis Holtby and referee Andy Woolmer quite rightly pointed to the spot. But Foster got Cathcart off the hook by flying to his left to firmly push away Armstrong’s spot-kick. It was the 12th of his career and he can’t have made many better.

Sarr had a great chance to put the game to bed late on after more approach play from Garner and then the young midfielder tried an acrobatic attempt of his own. It was just the sort of full-blooded game United had in mind for Garner when they sent him on loan. You expect there will be more of this to come in this wonderfully unique division.