Home European football England Watford stun Liverpool

Watford stun Liverpool

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Hornets in seventh after 3-0 win over Jurgen Klopp’s men

Watford picked up yet another victory this afternoon thanks to Nathan Ake and a brace from Odion Ighalo.

The Hornets went into the game one point above Liverpool, but were considered the underdogs due to the away form shown recently by Jurgen Klopp‘s men.

However, it was a day to forget for the German as he saw his side collapse and fail to capitalise on Manchester United‘s slip-up yesterday at home to Norwich City.

The most noticeable point before the game was that Simon Mignolet was missing in goal due to an injury, which gave Adam Bogdan a rare start for the Reds.

Summary

Sadly for the former-Bolton Wanderers shot-stopper, it was his fault Liverpool went 1-0 down after just three minutes.

A corner was swung in and Bogdan failed to make it his on two occasions before Ake tapped home into an empty net.

The lead was then doubled 12-minutes later as Ighalo netted his first of the game and 11th for the season. He overpowered Martin Skrtel and neatly finished past the stand-in ‘keeper.

Skrtel was then removed from the game due to a hamstring injury, which saw Klopp change tactics completely as Divock Origi replaced the centre-back.

However it didn’t change much as Liverpool failed to make a mark on the game.

The Reds did start the second-half a bit brighter however, but the failed to convert on several occasions before Ighalo netted his second of the game.

It was beautifully worked by Watford and at the end of it, Ighalo headered home his 12th of the season.

The 3-0 win keeps Watford seventh and just one point off fourth-place, while Liverpool stay ninth and five points off fourth.

Match Reaction

Watford manager Quique Flores, speaking to BBC Sport:

Can Watford finish in the top four? “[Laughs] I don’t want to talk about that. It is the moment to enjoy after this match, I like the happiness and I want to enjoy, the fans to enjoy. We should be humble. This is our one advantage, because the Premier League is very tough. We have a lot of matches to play. We never underestimate the teams we play. Of course we want to dream but we want to remain humble. We are completely happy with the performance. It was an amazing victory against an amazing team.”

On Nathan Ake’s opening goal: “The goalkeeper lost the ball and he tried to take it safe, it bounced on the ground and Ake was very clever. I think it is good and fair and finally the goal for us was completely important because when we are leading we are very safe and have a lot of confidence in what we are doing.”

On Odion Ighalo’s form: “Ighalo is the biggest scorer this season. He is always close to the box, always shooting and creating attempts, he deserves it. But of course it depends on the players, we create like a collective.”

Watford captain Troy Deeney: “That’s four wins in a row which is massive in the Premier League and starts our so-called tough run that everyone is talking about. We show no fear against anyone. Odion Ighalo is on fire.

“I know he is making the runs which makes life easy for me, I just put it in the space and he causes anyone problems.

“If Leicester are still talking about getting to 40 points, so are we. We’ll see about this top-four nonsense in March!”

Odion Ighalo: “From the first minute you could see that we were after the first goal. We had no fear. I just make runs in behind and I know that Troy can find me. We have a connection.”

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp, speaking to Sky Sports: “It was a bad start to the game. Of course the first ball from Adam Bogdan, he should keep and he drops it. Having seen it again usually it is a foul but it is 1-0 and our reaction was really bad. We lost our mind and stopped playing football. The second goal was very easy, we can defend this better. We tried a bit in the first half and changed a bit at half-time.

“The start to the second half was very good, we could have scored two goals, but we didn’t and then the third goal. Yeah, game over.

“The first one is his [Bogdan’s] fault, but then both hands on the ball, that is the goalkeeper safe, he has the ball, I think the referee didn’t see it. It was the wrong decision but we made more wrong decisions.

“Martin Skrtel is injured now, that is a problem I don’t know who will come back in this moment. Nobody had a rest, now we have to look who is available for Boxing Day.”

Liverpool goalkeeper Adam Bogdan: “It was a wrong time to concede. I dropped the first ball which is a mistake, I hold my hands up, but I felt I recovered the ball and he kicked it out of my hands. But if I catch the first one it’s not a goal.

“I had both hands on the ball but we are talking about a split-second. It’s not easy for the referee to see. If I catch the first ball there is no second one.

“Something went wrong, I have to think about it again. It was a mistake and I will learn from it. I felt good, it wasn’t nerves. I trained hard for this chance and it started as a nightmare. I don’t blame the referee or anyone else, I go back to train and work hard.”

Written by Alex Batt – @AlexBatt

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