Watford Humiliate Manchester United, Grab First Home Win Under Ranieri
Newly promoted Watford grabbed a spectacular 4-1 win against a struggling Manchester United side who have now suffered two defeats in their last two Premier League games.
The hosts, who secured their first home win of the season with this result, were the better team from the off and were awarded a penalty just eight minutes in when Scott McTominay brought down Joshua King in the box.
Watford’s resilience
Ismaila Sarr stepped up, but David de Gea saved the penalty before the rebound fell to Kiko Femenia, who opened the scoring. However, referee Jonathan Moss ruled out the goal as both Femenia and Aaron Wan-Bissaka had stepped into the box before Sarr took the penalty.
Moss ordered for the kick to be retaken, but Sarr failed to beat De Gea again with a weak strike that was easily stopped by the Spanish goalkeeper.
Despite wasting the opportunity to take the lead, Watford looked dominant and managed to convert their superiority into a goal through Joshua King, who broke the deadlock just before the half-hour mark.
Sarr felt relieved after doubling Watford’s lead before the interval and ran towards the fans to apologise for failing to convert from the spot twice.
The Red Devils bounced back after the break, when half-time substitute Donny van de Beek pulled one back for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side in the 50th minute. The Dutchman and Anthony Martial were brought on at the break for Scott McTominay and Marcus Rashford.
Maguire red card
United piled the pressure on Watford in the remaining minutes but couldn’t beat Ben Foster, while Harry Maguire received two yellow cards in a matter of seven minutes to leave the visitors down to 10 players.
While Manchester United were trying to break down Watford’s defence, Watford managed to score a third through substitute Joao Pedro, who came off the bench to seal the victory two minutes into stoppage time, while Emmanuel Dennis netted a fourth in stoppage time to put the icing on the cake.
United now sit seventh in the Premier League table with 17 points, with Watford 16th on 13 points.
