A flat and insipid Watford side were comfortably dismantled by Sean Dyche’s Burnley, who scored via two towering headers to draw level on points with last season’s champions Leicester. Both teams have seven points and are in 13th and 12th respectively.
“?Watford were looking to climb into the top eight with a victory, whereas Burnley were looking over their shoulders in anticipation of a relegation fight. In the absence of Andre Gray, Burnley employed a 4-4-1-1 formation, seeking to hit target man Sam Vokes as often as possible.
Walter Mazzarri’s @WatfordFC could move up to 7??th in the #PL with a win against @BurnleyOfficial later: https://t.co/OJLyRgJgH5 #BURWAT pic.twitter.com/JFYxn0g8VS
George Boyd had the first chance of the game with a rising shot off a defender and Michael Keane managed to aim a couple of headers goalwards. Sam Vokes also latched onto a Matt Lowton cross with his head as the aerial approach reaped some small rewards, directing it wide off Watford’s Sebastian Prodl.
Roberto Pereyra’s trip on Boyd and subsequent dissent in the aftermath earned him a yellow card, but it was Watford who then looked dangerous after a clearing header found Odion Ighalo – Dean Marney had to step in to prevent a breakaway.
Watford were disappointingly anonymous in the contest, largely passing sideways and backwards ponderously. José Holebas became the latest dissenter to be booked after Burnley won a corner. That corner would lead to the deadlock being broken in this largely pedestrian contest.
Hendrick’s just the tonic for Burnley.
The ball was whipped to the back post, where an unmarked Jeff Hendrick rose in acres of space and nodded in. Questions will be asked as to why Watford had no markers on either post, though Marney was a whisker offside in the build-up to the Burnley corner.
The suspicion was that the ball may also have crossed the line in a phase of play before the corner was given, which would have resulted in a Watford goal kick.
GOAL Burnley 1-0 Watford (38 mins). It’s been coming! Steven Defour whips in a corner and Jeff Hendrick powers a header into the goal
The visitors, who had been shoddy all half, had their first glimpse of goal when Ighalo powered a header straight at Tom Heaton. The referee called time on a very forgettable first half moments later.
HT: Burnley 1 Watford 0. Pretty uninspiring stuff from #watfordfc, wouldn’t you agree? Let us know your thoughts pic.twitter.com/cPE5r7wVn7
Walter Mazzarri replaced Craig Cathcart with the more offensive Juan Zuniga for the second half. A Troy Deeney effort on goal was pushed aside by Heaton – that was pretty much it for the Watford danger man, who was starved of service the entire game.
Much to the Italian’s chagrin, Burnley promptly marched up the other end and scored. A corner was deflected back towards the taker, Defour, whose cross picked out Keane. Another simple, unchallenged header for a Clarets player in the Watford penalty area found the corner of the net to compound the defence’s misery.
GOAL: Burnley have another!
Michael Keane doubles the lead and it’s another header.#BUR 2-0 #WAT https://t.co/3JSvMr9Zwq pic.twitter.com/ySuBq6gvTM
At 2-0, Burnley were able to pile the pressure on by pushing forward and hitting the ball up to Vokes. An increasingly frustrated Deeney snapped at the referee, realising just how vulnerable his side had become.
‘Just cross the ball lads’.
Watford’s last 7 goals conceded in the #PL have all come from crosses. #BURWAT : https://t.co/z3FrIYpOGi pic.twitter.com/FnGioIYqn5
Steven Defour unleashed a thunderbolt at Gomes in the Watford goal, and defender Ben Mee missed a glorious chance from the rebound (albeit from an offside position).
In the meantime, Watford sub Isaac Success looked to bring the same quality that his surname suggests to a side that had had none of it so far. He was, unfortunately, only successful in getting a yellow card.
Steven Defour has been involved in 4 of Burnley’s 5 goals this season:
Goals: 1
Assists: 3 pic.twitter.com/FsaWpJHovD
Both sets of defences allowed themselves to be rushed into giving away possession in dangerous areas, but Burnley were still composed, with the majority of the ball throughout the encounter.
An undisciplined and woeful Pereyra was taken off to spare him from potentially getting a second yellow card.
A double ricochet ended up at Boyd’s feet, and the winger should have teed up Hendrick for his second but lifted it over unconvincingly instead, allowing Gomes to intervene. 3-0 would have been reflective of Watford’s incompetence.
Success fought his way into the penalty area and flashed the ball across goal, but Heaton responded well to his first properly testing effort, tipping it wide. The Watford spell of pressure continued in the final five minutes of normal time, and it was the substitute who was instigating a lot of it.
Who says you can’t buy success?
Watford did, and Isaac Success has just come on.
Can he change things?
?https://t.co/NI1sjtGRxI #BURWAT pic.twitter.com/5QgKpJwsDt
Four minutes of injury time passed without incident, and Burnley celebrated a surprisingly easy win. As mentioned, the win saw them climb to thirteenth in the table, level with Watford and Leicester on seven points.
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