Under the eagle eye of their new manager Nigel Pearson from the box, Watford were unable to break down a poor Crystal Palace side this evening (December 7).
It was another let down for fans as a lack of clinical finishing and controversial refereeing decisions meant the game finished goalless.
Palace’s Wilfred Zaha was man marked out of the game for the whole 90 minutes which clearly angered the striker as he received a yellow card, and was very close to getting a second.
Zaha has now been fouled more than 500 times in the Premier League and Watford has fouled the striker more times than any other club (33).
At half time both sides failed to have a shot on target despite Watford having the better chances to take the lead.
Gerard Deulofeu was feeble in his shooting as his 53rd minute shot just nipped past the post and his second was straight at the keeper’s feet, making it an easy save.
When Andre Gray was subbed on, the game did liven up but no player could convert any of their 13 chances (just three were on target).
In the final 10 munites The Hornets were breaking down Crystal Palace on the right hand side with Ismalia Sarr putting in a solid shift but his end product wasn’t good enough for Deeney or Gray to clinch three points.
In the 93rd minute, Zaha was about to break through the Watford defence, Etienne Capoue pushed him over to flaunt the attack and take the yellow card.
An already erratic Zaha, he couldn’t let this one go and stood up to the midfielder. When the final whistle blew the ‘chat’ continued as the players gathered in the centre circle to have a debate about the incident whilst the stadium continued to boo the striker.
Captain Troy Deeney said after the game: “We wanted to win this game and should have won on reflection.
“I’m frustrated with VAR for not checking a decision. I’m sure the fans will be frustrated at us that we haven’t scored.”
Clearly there’s a lot of work for Nigel Pearson to do but with his wealth of English football experience, everyone is praying results will change.
Next week The Golden Boys will travel to Anfield to face league leaders Liverpool.
Photo courtesy of Watford FC
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