Watford vs Crystal Palace match report: Troy Deeney gets Hornets out of jail as Sam Allardyce sees enough to work with
Watford 1 Crystal Palace 1: Allardyce's side were by far the better team in his first match since replacing Alan Pardew as Palace manager
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Sam Allardyce knew the chants were coming but what he did learn is that his Crystal Palace players are up for the fight.
Allardyce, having never been relegated from the Premier League, would have seen enough at Vicarage Road to remain confident that his CV will remain unblemished. A hard-fought point at Watford could have been much more.
It took a needless shove from Damien Delaney for Troy Deeney's penalty to cancel out Yohan Cabaye's opener.
Allardyce, aka the survival specialist, is back and doing what he does best; getting the most out of a struggling team.
For Crystal Palace and an annual £100m windfall, the ultimate managerial guarantor of survival was never going to be ignored. If it wasn't Palace, it would have been Swansea, Hull or another struggling team he took on.
The 67-day reign in charge of England, which ended with a £1m pay-off from the Football Association following a newspaper sting, will still rankle with Big Sam.
Supporters won't let him forget it either. 'You're just fat greedy b*stard' the home fans sang in the 23rd minute. Moments later it was 'You let your country down.' Allardyce, who didn't emerge from the sanctuary of the dugout until the 44th minute, can expect much more before the season is out.
At least Allardyce, who boasts a 33.6 per cent winning record in the Premier League, inherits a squad with greater depth and quality than he found himself with at Sunderland.
He kept them up against the odds but here he has the power of record signing Christian Benteke and the speed of Wilfried Zaha and Andros Townsend at his disposal. He will also be backed in next month’s transfer window to add to his tools
Palace's soft underbelly had been exposed all too often this season. But at the other end there had been no such problems going forward.
Alan Pardew had spent a then club record £10m to be reunited with Cabaye, the Frenchman who had starred on Tyneside. Instead Cabaye has been a shadow of that player during his 18-month stay in south London.
Cabaye has already served a warning when he shot just wide early on, but in the 26th minute he wouldn't waste another opening.
Townsend, another big-money signing overlooked by Pardew in recent weeks, threaded the ball through for Cabaye to slot home. Allardyce was motionless.
You could say the same for Watford defender Younes Kaboul, whose poor positioning in failing to follow his team-mates in pushing up ensured Cabaye was left onside.
That Watford were all at sea was no surprise having seen Daryl Janmaat carried off on a stretcher inside three minutes and Valon Behrami limp off with 14 minutes played.
Watford had lost five out of their last seven games and were slow and ponderous.
That summed up Sebastian Prodl in the 36th minute, The Austrian defender' backpass was never going to reach his goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes who ended up tripping Benteke for a clear penalty.
Gomes, who has developed a happy knack of saving penalties, did it once again to atone for his part in the spot-kick decision.
In truth it was an awful spot-kick by Benteke, who has now missed two. That was a woeful effort against West Ham where he missed the target. This was not much better, a stuttered run up and weak effort that was pushed aside by Gomes.
Taking one look at Palace's woeful defensive record, Palace's fans could be forgiven for fearing the worst. In fact, they hadn't kept a clean sheet away from home since last year's Boxing Day.
Perhaps they were fortunate to be facing a Watford side that have been heading in the wrong direction under Walter Mazzarri.
Deeney, who had been stuck on 99 goals since October, and Odion Ighalo were not the same potent force at the same stage of last season.
Wayne Hennessey, the Crystal Palace goalkeeper, had barely mustered a save until he was forced to watch Prodl's long-range strike drift tamely into his hands on the hour mark.
That just summed up how poor Watford had been. Corners and crosses had been Palace's Achilles heel but they were rarely troubled here until Delaney pulled down Prodl in the 71st minute.
Deeney stepped up and showed Benteke how to do it by thumping his penalty down the middle to bring his century of goals in a Watford shirt.
The conflict didn’t end there though. Having been booked for simulation by referee Mark Clattenburg, Zaha was clearly still irked at the final whistle for not receiving a penalty when the Watford mascot, Harry the Hornet, dived in front of him. Zaha reacted angrily, and the two clashed before split apart.
Teams:
Watford (3-5-2): Gomes; Britos, Kaboul, Prodl; Janmaat (Zuniga 4, 5, Sinclair 83) Behrami (Deeney 14), Guedioura, Capoue, Holebas, Ambrabat, Ighalo. Subs not used: Pantilimon, Cathcart, Doucoure, Kabasele
Crystal Palace (4-5-1): Hennessey; Kelly, Dann, Delaney, Ward; Flamini (Campbell 80), Cabaye, Puncheon, Townsend (Mutch 73), Zaha, C Benteke. Subs not used: Speroni, Lee, Fryers, Husin, Wan-Bissaka.
Referee: Mark Clattenburg
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments