Tag Archives: Aug17

17th August 2019- Premier League, Everton 1 Watford 0

Referee: Lee Mason
Attendance: 39,066

The Hornets launched a record-breaking season last time out on the back of four straight wins. They are going to have to show they can mount one on the back of a tricky opening to this campaign after Everton left the Golden Boys still searching for their first goal let alone their first point.

Watford lose poor match against Everton in first away game of the season

Early Bernard goal enough gives Everton victory over Watford

Everton vs Watford: Javi Gracia felt a ‘good performance’ deserved more

Watford players rated after another winless trip to Everton

Watford head coach Javi Gracia: ‘I don’t know when it’s a penalty or not’

Gerard Deulofeu feels Watford deserved something from their game against Everton

A selection of images from Watford’s defeat at Everton

Watford boss Javi Gracia pleased for Danny Welbeck after striker’s return to action

Bernard’s first Premier League goal of the season helped Everton edge a 1-0 win over Watford in a tight contest at Goodison Park. The Brazilian’s deflected strike into the bottom corner in the first half (10) proved the difference in the swirling conditions on Merseyside, but the visitors came close when Craig Dawson’s header hit the woodwork midway through the first half. Richarlison squandered two great chances to score for Everton. Despite Watford’s sporadic efforts to equalise, including Troy Deeney’s strike which forced a brilliant save from Jordan Pickford, the hosts held on for their first win of the season.

The Hornets are on a poor run having won just one of their last eight league matches, and have yet to score in this campaign.

Moise Kean, a late substitute, missed two chances to secure victory for Everton, but Watford were the stronger unit throughout the second half. Keane and Mina proved immovable obstacles and the visitors, despite showing a vast improvement on last week’s performance against Brighton, departed empty handed once again.

Deulofeu impressed most for Watford, albeit – rather like the whole team – the threat sometimes exceeds the end product. When Deulofeu sent Troy Deeney through on 57 minutes it forced Pickford into a brave save to keep the score level.

It should be clear to all who indulge in such things that the First Home Game Of The Season and The First Away Game Of The Season are distinctly special things. The First Game Of The Season has a lustre of its own, of course, but above and beyond that there’s something special about returning to the Vic and something equally special about hitting the road again.

Everton had placed flags at each seat in the home stands which were to be waved as the players emerged from the tunnel.  It has to be said that they were not a patch on the flags at Vicarage Road.  Maybe we were unlucky with our positioning, but we were surrounded by some of the worst of our fan base and started the game with our ears being assaulted by an abusive song aimed at Silva.  Now I have no love at all for the man, but he won’t give a damn what we think about him (that was obvious when he left), neither will the Everton fans, so chanting abuse at him is totally futile and detracts from supporting our own team.

Goodison Park has never been a happy hunting ground for Watford, and this week wasn’t again!! In this pod, Jon, Mike and Jason gathered to talk about the issues in the Rookery during the Brighton game, talk to Matt Rowson about the disappointing, yet better performance, and then look into the rest of this season.

17th August 2013-Championship, Reading 3 Watford 3

Diego Fabbrini scored a late goal to rescue a draw for Watford at Reading. The home side took the lead through Adam Le Fondre’s powerful left-footed strike and Jem Karacan bundled in from a set-piece to add a second. Watford’s Marco Faraoni scored a header but Karacan slotted in a Le Fondre knock down to restore a two-goal lead. Troy Deeney converted a penalty for the visitors after Danny Guthrie’s foul on substitute Fabbrini, who prodded home in the 89th minute.

It’s easy to paint the game as being of two halves.  Actually, for the first fifteen minutes or so of the second period we looked perhaps even less likely to get back into the game…  possession was suddenly being ceded cheaply as we struggled to up the pace and looked for ambitious passes.  A recurring theme under Gianfranco Zola however has been that of continuous improvement; we saw it through much of last season, and within a game he’s proven himself capable of changing the lie of the land to our benefit.  It helps to have such quality on the bench of course, and we’ll get to that.  But no small credit is due to the manager here for a bold substitution that changed our shape subtly and gave Reading something else to think about.  Reading fans will naturally focus on the contrast in their own team’s performance vs earlier in the game, but the R’s didn’t just “lose it”.  Much of the game is psychological of course and as things started to run for us belief grew in our camp whilst doubts entered Reading minds on and off the pitch.  Everyone who’s watched a football match has seen that before.  But something had to start that ball rolling, something had to change the game and give us an edge.  Sometimes it’s a lucky break, or a piece of individual skill…

http://watford.fcdb.info?id=5071

17th August 2002-New Division One, Watford 3 Wimbledon 2

The side we played that day were really an embryonic MK Dons.  In May the FA had given the go ahead for the then owners of Wimbledon to relocate the club to Milton Keynes, although they wouldn’t actually move for another year.  In response the supporters of Wimbledon re-launched the club as AFC Wimbledon and by the time of this game were already playing in the Combined Counties League which explains the rather empty away end.

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http://watford.fcdb.info?id=4508

Lets just pretend Tommy Smith doesn’t fall over whilst celebrating Allan Nielsen’s goal.

Allan Nielsen sealed an improbable win for Watford over Wimbledon with a last-gasp goal at Vicarage Road.

Screen Shot 2016-09-01 at 22.52.13BSAD report:When else do I get to write a match report that can be as biased and as blinkered as I like, safe in the knowledge that there were no opposition fans present to offer conflicting witness statements?

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Taken from 26 Aug 2002 Watford v Coventry City programme

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17th August 1996- New Division Two, AFC Bournemouth 1 Watford 2

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

BSAD: This was a result that we managed to grind out. We probably deserved to get something out of the game, but we were lucky to hang on for the win. If we are going to get anywhere near promotion, this is exactly the sort of result we need to hang on for. The performance was not what I would classify as good, but the fact that we won made it a very happy day.

https://www.soccerbase.com/matches/results.sd?date=1996-08-17
https://www.11v11.com/league-tables/league-division-2/17-august-1996/