Watford have heaped further misery on Manchester United with a 3-1 victory at Vicarage Road.
The Hornets opened the scoring through Etienne Capoue, despite a challenge on Anthony Martial in the lead-up which has since been hotly debated.
United then hit back through Marcus Rashford who tapped in after a strong build-up play, and cross from Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Substitute Juan Camilo Zuniga then restored the Hornets lead before captain Troy Deeney put the final nail in United’s coffin.
Troy Deeney and Odion Ighalo
The Watford front two caused plenty of problems for the Manchester United defence from the outset with some strong link up play. Both forwards showed good ability to hold the ball up and wait for support to get forward. Deeney and Ighalo did their job defensively, limiting the impact of United fullbacks Antonio Valencia and Luke Shaw going forward.
On the other side of the coin, Ighalo will be disappointed not to have opened the scoring when he missed an open goal after an error in communication between Chris Smalling and David De Gea. Deeney’s efforts were rewarded in the dying stages of the game after he converted a penalty to put the icing on the cake for the Hornets.
United’s third loss in a week
After such a positive start to the season, United now find themselves six points behind neighbours Manchester City after only five matches. Despite working their way back into the game, United were unable to capitalise on their momentum. The visitors dominated possession but lacked fluency going forward on a number of occasions with a number of passes going astray.
Questions will yet again be raised over the midfield partnership of Paul Pogba and Marouane Fellaini, with the pair often caught out defensively. The result is sure to leave manager Jose Mourinho with plenty of food for thought, who has lost three consecutive games in a single season for the first time since he was the manager of FC Porto. With United falling behind quickly in the title race, Mourinho needs to fix things quickly before it becomes too late.
Zuniga’s superb impact
Brought into the game after 82 minutes by Walter Mazzarri, the Colombian made an instant impact just over a minute later. Zuniga placed the ball perfectly into the bottom corner after a cut back pass from Roberto Pereyra. The move to bring him on looked to be a defensive one, after replacing Etienne Capoue in defensive midfield.
Zuniga, more commonly a wingback, was not finished there. After being found by fellow substitute Isaac Success, the 30-year-old was fouled in the box by Fellaini before his captain stepped up to convert from 12 yards.
Was it or was it not a foul?
In the build up to the opening goal, the Red Devils cleared the ball from the 18-yard box following a Watford corner. Anthony Martial picked the ball on the edge of the box where he ran towards the corner flag before being tackled by Miguel Britos, which resulted in Daryl Janmaat finding Capoue for the opening goal. There was much conjecture around referee Michael Oliver’s decision to allow play to continue and debate still raged following the match. If the foul had been paid, the match may gone in a different direction.
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