Watford and Crystal Palace played out their second 0-0 draw in two years in a fiery affair at Vicarage Road.
There was an optimistic mood amongst the Watford supporters, having appointed Nigel Pearson on Friday night, and with the chance to impress the new manager, certain players really stepped up in an attempt to record just their second win of the 2019/20 Premier League campaign.
Meanwhile, Wilfried Zaha faced his usual Hertfordshire welcome; a chorus of boos whenever the Ivorian touched the ball added elements of anger to the game from both sides, with multiple fouls being committed.
It was a game of relatively few chances. In the first half, James McArthur came closest with a skewed volley past Ben Foster, with the ball ending up closer to the corner flag than the bottom corner.
The second half was much more lively; Sarr who caused Palace problems all afternoon was played through by Andre Gray, only for Gary Cahill to make a game-saving challenge on the edge of the six-yard box, stopping Sarr from grabbing his second Premier League goal.
At the other end, Ayew hit a shot over Ben Foster’s near post, but the main moment of controversy was in the last minute, when Troy Deeney was held down in the box by Gary Cahill. According to the penalties given this season, it could have been expected for the ref to point to the spot, however without checking VAR, Cahill was judged to have seen the ball fairly out of play, much to the dismay of Watford fans.
It was a promising performance from Watford with plenty of positives for the new manager to build on, while Palace will be happy with their resolute defensive away performance.
Christian Kabasele: Watford’s saviour?
Centre-back Kabasele marshalled Zaha really well all afternoon, and this made it much easier for Watford to have potential to build going forward.
Having struggled defensively all season, the rejuvenated form of Kabasele will give Watford fans plenty of confidence going into the second half of the season, and if his form continues, Watford will be very much capable of staying up.
Wilfred Zaha- is he unfairly treated?
Wilfred Zaha made it 500 fouls he has been the victim of when he was tripped by Kiko. Much to his dissatisfaction at full time and on social media, he made it clear again that he feels he is not protected enough by Premier League referees, and that there should be harsher treatment on those that deliberately target him.
In many ways, the Ivorian does have a point. Troy Deeney said last season that players took it in turns to foul Zaha to stop him, and while this is complimentary to the sheer skill that Zaha possess, it is arguably right that the league and VAR make a much larger stand to stop this “agenda” that teams have against Zaha.
VAR and Watford- a match made in hell
Yet again, the Hornets were made the victims of a calamitous VAR decision, when Troy Deeney was hurled down by Gary Cahill in the closing stages. It feels for Watford fans that if any other team were faced with that, then they would have been given the decision, and after Stockley Park’s apology letter last week, Watford would have hoped for greater fortune this week.
Overall, VAR really needs to fix up, or more and more teams will be calling for its head.
