Fulham 1-1 Watford: Five things learned as the Hornets’ swarm fails to put out the Mitro’s fire

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Watford continue to stutter after their best ever start to a Premier League season, as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Fulham.

Watford had a perfect start to this clash when they went ahead via Andre Gray in the second minute. The Hornets swarmed all over the Cottagers after that and should have put the whole game to bed when they were gifted several clear chances by sloppy Fulham defending.

Watford cold not maintain their intensity in the second half and Fulham were able to battle in to the game with help from their Serbian talisman Aleksandar Mitrović, who equalised in the last 12 minutes.

Here are five things we learned from Saturday’s lunchtime kick off

1. The Hornets’ swarm causes trouble

 

Watford’s high press caused Fulham lots of problems at the back in the first half. The Hornets barely allowed Fulham’s players any time on the ball, which could account for their sloppy passing in the first half.

A bigger problem for the west Londoners was the utter calamities this aggressive strategy had on their back line, who were pressured into making a series of errors, one of which gifted Watford their opening goal in the second minute.

Watford’s pressing had a negative effect on Fulham’s passing accuracy too, which was 74.8% in the first half, their lowest in the opening 45 minutes of a Premier League game this season. However, The Hornets were unable to keep up that level of intensity for the whole game and Fulham were able to fight and claw their way back in the second half.

2. Consistency is key

Watford started this game with an unchanged line-up for sixth game in a row, which is the first time a team in the Premier League has done that for 10 years.

Although this was a recipe for success in their first four games, a home defeat against Manchester United and failing to capitalise on the plethora of opportunities they had at Craven Cottage this afternoon suggests Javi Gracia needs to change things up a bit.

3. Watford need a set piece deputy

Jose Holebas leads the league with assists this season, after creating four goals for his team mates over the last five games.

Today, however, the Greek play-maker failed to provide a good service to his teammates. Every time Holebas stood over a dead ball, his delivery would invariably travel on as far as Fulham’s first defender, head straight into gloves of Bettinelli or miss everyone completely.

The midfielder also was booked in the late stages of the second half to top off his disappointing afternoon in west London.

4. Cottage has too many cracks

Fulham narrowly avoided conceding a second or third goal this afternoon. If they had let in a second, Fulham would’ve become the third side to concede two or more goals in 10 consecutive Premier League games.

It’s a miracle that Andre Gray didn’t earn a second goal when Alfie Mawson inexplicably decided to head a long ball back to his goalkeeper, which only travelled as far as Gray. Luckily for the defender Bettinelli was able to deny the striker at close range.

Betinelli’s save didn’t save Mawson from being substituted at half time, but Slaviša Jokanović’s ruthlessness paid off, as Fulham were a lot more solid in the second half.

5. Aleksandar Mitrović is (still) on fire!

The Serbian is an excellent striker. He’s the perfect counterbalance to Fulham’s patient play because he can just ram through and beat defenders into submission, usually finding a decisive touch in the process.

After a subdued first half, Mitrovic was threatening to score for much of the second. He had two headers go over the bar and a shot from inside the box blocked, before he managed to flick in a shot past Ben Foster.

Mitrovic almost clinched victory in the last five minutes when he leapt into to the air – seemingly hanging there forever – until connecting with a powerful header which Foster managed to parry onto the crossbar. The Serbian striker now has more league goals (17) than any other player in English football since his debut and has scored more goals this season (5) than Newcastle United (4).

The post Fulham 1-1 Watford: Five things learned as the Hornets’ swarm fails to put out the Mitro’s fire appeared first on Squawka News.



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