Manchester United 2-1 Watford
Manchester United moved back into a Champions League spot with a hard-fought win over Europa League-chasing Watford at the Theatre of Dreams.
The Premier League Manchester United vs Watford clash was quite a significant one as it was Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s first match as United’s permanent manager. And it was all smiles in the end as Solskjaer’s team overcame an excellent Watford side.
The visitors dominated much of the play and had over twice as many shots as their hosts, but a professional performance from goalkeeper David de Gea took the sting out of the Hornets.
Highlights of the game
As the chants of “Ole, Ole, Ole” reverberated around a packed Old Trafford, Watford got down to business on the pitch. And the Hornets should have gone ahead in just the second minute.
Gerard Deulofeu picked up the ball on the right side of the box, but he took too long to cross while Troy Deeney was in acres of space and Manchester United cleared.
With the pre-match Manchester United vs Watford news dominated by the United manager, his players seemed to be out of sorts in the opening exchanges.
Watford’s Abdoulaye Doucoure had a great chance from around 15 yards, but he hit his shot wide. Deeney also got on the end of a Daryl Janmaat cross, but David De Gea was quick off his line to palm the ball away as Watford continued to dominate.
Deeney, who was a menace to the United defence, then outmuscled the Red Devils’ defence to nod the ball down to Roberto Pereyra, but his shot was straight at De Gea.
Then came the sucker punch. With their first shot of the game, the hosts went ahead just before the half hour. Luke Shaw won the ball in United’s half and put Marcus Rashford in with a superb ball. The young England striker did the rest, beating Ben Foster with a lovely finish.
United could have made it two just minutes later, but Anthony Martial shot too close to Foster after good work from Juan Mata.
It was so far, so good for the Red Devils at the break, but Solskjaer and the home fans would have hoped for more control of the game in the second period. United were unable to do so, though, as the Hornets started brightly once again.
Pereyra picked up the ball on the edge of the box and fired low towards the corner, but De Gea tipped it round the post. Then, after good work from Doucoure and Deeney, Will Hughes bent one just wide.
The Red Devils then hit Watford again on 72 minutes, stinging the Hornets against the run of play. Anthony Martial was just about onside after a Jesse Lingard cross, and after Foster had taken the ball off his feet, he poked it home at the second attempt.
It was a little rough on the Hornets. And they were left thinking what might have been, had they taken their chances, particularly when Doucoure played a nice one-two before finishing past De Gea for a 90th-minute consolation.
This game was never easy for the Red Devils, but a narrow in was enough to take them back into the top four.
Key statistics
The Manchester United vs Watford betting odds here at SBOBET pointed to a comfortable home win. But the fact that Watford won the shot count by 20 to eight and eight to five on target tells you all you need to know about this game.
OGS has now won 15 of his 20 games in charge since taking over in December, and I bet he doesn’t care how the wins come as long as they keep on coming.
The Red Devils have now beaten the Hornets 12 times in 13 meetings. Meanwhile, Watford have now lost 17 of their last 18 away games in Manchester since beating Manchester City way back in 1987.
What’s next?
With the dramatic win over PSG still fresh in the memory of Red Devils fans, they have another huge Champions League fixture to look forward to against Barcelona in a week and a half.
But before that, they have a tough league game away to Wolves, the team that put them out of the FA Cup. Nuno Espirito Santo’s side is in the hunt for a Europa League place, but they lost to Burnley this weekend.
With the loss, Watford are now in 10th place, one point behind Wolves. They have a home match against doomed Fulham coming up, which they could use to leapfrog their rivals.
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