Doormat Hornets Surprise United

Seems like Manchester United's gotta remember how to win the little ones.

Dudes looked like they were ready to resume their rightful place among the Premiership's big brands last week when they clinically throttled Manchester City after taking down Tottenham before that.

But no.

 

To say the Red Devils mailed it in at Vicarage Road today is to do a disservice to the postal service's rain, snow, gloom of night, yadda yadda pledge.

 

OK, United's team bus got caught in traffic on the way to Watford and only arrived an hour before kickoff, but what in the name of Matt Busby were the lads doing out there?

The only effort they put in on the afternoon was gifting the last-place Hornets their first victory of the season with a 2-0 result that surely warmed the left cockle of Elton John's heart.

 

That's putting it mildly ...

• David de Gea did yet another impression of ball as greased pig, something that's becoming all to common these days, and then,
• After Aaron Wan-Bissaka's clumsy foul put Ismaïla Sarr at the spot, de Gea reads the body language and still allows the penalty shot to sail past him.

What's the scarlet side of England's second-largest city to do?

 

 

 

Take nothing away from Watford, though.

Dudes were out there fighting for their Premiership lives, and given their position at the foot of the table, they were. Why else would they bring in rough-&-tumble Nigel Pearson -- their third manager this month -- to save them?

After all, if he can encounter a pack of wild dogs on a hike and live to talk about it, he's gottab be qualified for this challenge.

 

Pearson had the Hornets whipped into a similar frenzy. Dudes are obviously less talented than United, but they showed relegation-battle form in this one. Their defense was stout and their midfield was aggressive.

They just can't score any bloody goals without a bitta help. United obliged:

 

For the record, you just saw Watford's only two shots on target.

It was a year ago to the day that Ole Gunnar Solskjær brought a ray of sunshine to United after the darkness of José Mourinho's reign at Old Trafford. The Norwegian subsequently signed an extended contract while the tide was high and then has seen the Devils' fortunes ebb and flow ever since.

Hornets faithful, meanwhile, were ecstatic. These three points pulled them back to shouting distance:

United, as fate would have it, are now three points shy of a future trip to Europe, lying eighth place. That's one position behind Mourninho's disappointing Tottenham Hotspur.

The Premiership is famous for featuring exciting times at both ends of the table. With this unexpected boost, Watford has exchanged impending doom for a feeling that they're gonna be a part of it.

The Red Devils, meanwhile, must know how Pearson felt to be surrounded by wild dogs.