Watford captain Troy Deeney experienced the highs and lows of
football in quick succession after his stoppage-time own-goal gave
Manchester United a 2-1 win at Vicarage Road on Saturday.
Deeney
had powered home an 87th-minute penalty after Marcos Rojo had brought
down Odion Ighalo but was left with his head in his hands after
deflecting Bastian Schweinsteiger's effort into the home side's net.
Victory
took United to the top of the English Premier League table, although
cross-town rivals and previous leaders Manchester City were one of
several teams who had the chance to leapfrog them in matches kicking-off
later Saturday.
This win also meant Louis van
Gaal's side extended their unbeaten run in all competitions to eight games.
United had led early through Memphis Depay before Deeney's goal ended a record of 10 hours and two minutes without conceding.
In
common with all Premier League matches this weekend, the French
national anthem La Marseillaise was played prior to the kick-off
following the Paris terror attacks of November 13.
This was well
observed although some United supporters sang "Ooh ah Cantona" to the
tune, referencing their former French forward Eric Cantona.
United manager van Gaal did not include any out and out forwards in his line-up, with Wayne Rooney absent through illness.
That meant Dutch winger Depay led the line, with compatriot van Gaal looking on as his side dominated the opening exchanges.
The
visitors were ahead with just 11 minutes on the clock when Depay met an
exquisite Ander Herrera cross to volley past Heurelho Gomes for his
fifth goal of the season.
Watford struggled to get out of their
own half but United nearly gifted them a way back in with former
Vicarage Road favourite Ashley Young, who had been given a good
reception before kick-off, losing the ball to Etienne Capoue who in turn
fed Ighalo. But the Nigerian took too much time and fired wide.
Van
Gaal was forced into an early change as Herrera went off with a
suspected hamstring injury to be replaced by Rojo, United switching to a
back three in the process.
The visitors continued to create
chances with Morgan Schneiderlin volleying over wastefully while Deeney
cleared on the line to keep out Schweinsteiger's header.
At the
other end, Capoue powerfully struck over from the edge of the area but
Depay came close to a second as Gomes saved well following his surging
run and shot from 25 yards.
United continued to attack at the
start of the second half with Gomes saving to foil Jesse Lingard, while
Schweinsteiger headed over from Juan Mata's corner.
David de Gea came to United's rescue at the other end as he kept out Deeney's piledriver from Ighalo's header down.
Watford
started to get closer with Ighalo unable to get proper connection from
Almen Abdi's corner with Schweinsteiger making a crucial interception.
Depay
could have sealed the game for the visitors midway through the second
half when his shot from the left went just wide after good work from
Lingard and Mata.
Watford were very much still in the game though and it needed another good stop by De Gea to push Abdi's effort around the post.
Deeney
was then unable to direct his shot away from De Gea after Ighalo had a
made a nuisance in the area, with Quique Sanchez Flores's side taking a
more direct approach.
Lingard then missed a good chance to seal
the win as he failed to chip Gomes but Watford looked to have earned a
point when Rojo clipped the heels of Ighalo and, from the penalty,
Deeney scored his third goal of the season.
United, however, finished strongly with Gomes saving well from Chris Smalling following Andreas Pereira's corner.
But
the former Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper could do nothing about Deeney's
deflection from Schweinsteiger's effort after he had kept out Lingard's
original shot.
Saturday, November 21, 2015
United gifted late winner at Watford
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Write comments