Watford Sting Toothless Town

Beppe Sannino's Watford side beat Mick McCarthy's Ipswich Town on Saturday afternoon at Vicarage Road. 

In a rather underwhelming first half, Ipswich had the better of the opening 15 minutes. Frank Nouble was a thorn in 'Orns wing-back Davide Faraoni's side. But Johnny Williams' movement was stretching Watford's defence, with a shot from Williams not convincingly dealt with by Manuel Almunia, who was lucky that neither Anthony Wordsworth nor Daryl Murphy were following in on the Watford captain's risky punch away. But, and against the run of play, the Hornets then took the lead. 

Riera celebrates with Daniel Tőszer

The ball came to left wing-back Albert Riera, who took on Ipswich right-back Luke Chambers, before leaving him for dead and cutting inside and unleashing a curling shot past ex-Bristol City goalkeeper Dean Gerken into the back of the net. The ex-Liverpool player showed why he might well be loaned back to Watford when he starts his contract at Udinese in the summer with a goal that would be more expected in front of the Kop at Anfield. 

After Watford had taken the lead, the remainder of the first half settled into more of a balanced contest. The first half ended with a good chance for the visitors, with Nouble’s athleticism causing havoc down his sides left, before the ball came to Johnny Williams. However, the on loan Crystal Palace man couldn’t find the target with his shot missing the goal by a relatively small margin. 

As they had in the first half, Ipswich started off the stronger side with Williams feeding Frank Nouble, but the ex-West Ham striker got too far underneath the ball and sent it flying somewhere in the direction of Stevenage. Watford’s repost was a shot by Troy Deeney that, despite being on target, wasn’t challenging Dean Gerken. 

The game was about to get more frenetic, however, when after having been put under pressure by a back pass Manuel Almunia had little option other than to gift Ipswich a throw in. From it, Nouble’s deflected cross found Anthony Wordsworth. His side-foot finish was a very easy one in truth, with poor marking from Swede Joel Ekstrand, and a lack of authority from Almunia gifting the former Colchester man a rare goal. Town would then have another chance when another Johnny Williams cross was headed towards goal by Luke Hyam, but Almunia tipped the ball on to the bar, before Daryl Murphy fouled Albert Riera before missing the rebound. 

The save by Almunia would be the turning point in the game. A free-kick from Daniel Tőszer floated on to the head of Gabriele Angella, the Italian defender getting a free run on goal and flicking the ball past Gerken for Watford’s second of the afternoon. Mick McCarthy accused his defence of “Switching off” at that set-play, and they did in all fairness allowing Angella to bag his eighth goal of his first season in England. And as if the “Yellow Army” weren’t getting enough enjoyment from watching their team, Watford would score again. 

Scorers Riera and McGugan celebrate with Almen Abdi

Davide Faraoni had the ball on the right wing and passed it to Tőszer, who managed to avoid the temptation of going down under the challenge of two Ipswich defenders but lost the ball. Luckily for Watford, Lewis McGugan pounced on the loose ball to get Watford’s third.

The former Nottingham Forest midfielder managed to thread the ball through the legs of both Christophe Berra and Dean Gerken on the way into the net. That was the end of the goals, but that wouldn’t stop both teams having two similar chances to add to their tallies.

First, Stephen Hunt, on as a substitute for Ipswich, took the ball down before volleying just over. Watford sub Sean Murray would also take the ball on the volley, but his dipping shot didn’t dip enough for a fourth. 

Man of the Match: Albert Riera was a threat down Watford’s left flank, scored the goal of the game, and received a standing ovation when he was taken off for Daniel Pudil late on. The former Liverpool and Manchester City man is set to join Udinese in the summer but, as most of the players in Watford’s match day 18, may be loaned back to Watford next season.