Watford 0 Southampton 0
There are some afternoons that you never get back. This was one of them.
Étienne Capoue, however, will be happy to forget it. In a game that had 0-0 written all over it, Watford’s record signing had the opportunity to tear up the script.
The clock had creaked to the 66th minute when Troy Deeney flicked on from a corner and there was Capoue, three yards out and with the goal gaping. The ball came to him quickly and it was slightly behind him but jaws dropped to the floor all around Vicarage Road when he headed up and over the crossbar.
Watford remain unbeaten and their Premier League tenure is still at the stage where any point feels as though it is one gained. The manager, Quique Flores, though, has to hope that his radically remodelled squad will find greater cohesion in the weeks ahead. He could also lament a bad miss on 41 minutes from Odion Ighalo.
For Southampton, there was little to cheer, and the negatives included an injury that forced off Sadio Mané in the 25th minute. Ronald Koeman had made it plain that victory was imperative, after the limp home loss to Everton the previous weekend but, like Watford, his team created little and there remains the sense that they are a work in slow progress.
The Southampton manager has given the impression that he is groping for the right tactical blend, as he incorporates the club’s latest influx of new signings – there were four of them in his starting team here – and he switched to a three-man defence, with the wing-backs asked to provide the width.
He had to make an early change when Mané departed. The forward, who has been linked with a move to Manchester United, was hurt when he clattered into Heurelho Gomes, the Watford goalkeeper. He attempted to get up only to crumple to the ground. Moments later, after he had been tripped by Allan Nyom, the same thing happened. He was replaced by Shane Long.
Watford are the kings of transfer window churn, with 11 new players so far and one or two more a possibility, and Flores has the tricky test of moulding them into a unit … and quickly. He had six new boys in his lineup, and three more on the bench, including Alessandro Diamanti, who joined last Monday and came on for the second half.
The entertainment value was zero, with Nyom’s ninth-minute shot which almost hit the corner flag setting the tone. José Holebas made a sweet connection with a shot but it whacked into his team-mate, Deeney, while Long jinked through but he could not muster any power in his shot. Ikechi Anya was willing and he fizzed a low centre across goal on 41 minutes but the ball went through Ighalo’s legs at the far post – a dreadful miss – and the half-time whistle came as a mercy.
Flores moved Anya back to left-back so that he could play Diamanti on the left wing, in an attempt to inject some attacking impetus but it remained a tough watch for both sets of fans, with chances at a premium.
Graziano Pellè worked Gomes with a shot at the top corner of the near post and Long headed over from the ensuing corner while there was the detail of Oriol Romeu collecting his third booking in three games for Southampton.
Romeu cut through the back of Capoue, and it looked extremely painful. Worse, though, was to follow for the Watford midfielder.
(Guardian service)
