Full Time: Watford 0-1 Stoke City
A volley from Darren Fletcher eased the pressure on Mark Hughes as Stoke City held on at Watford to win away from home for the first time this season. The only goal came midway through the first half as Fletcher scored a fine goal.
Marco Silva’s Watford began the day in a lofty 6th position, and even enjoyed long periods of possession throughout. But he did not have a shot until just before the hour mark. Richarlison was unable to place the ball into an open goal after good work from Andre Carrillo, who stretched the Potters’ defence.
Stoke City Player Ratings
Butland – 6.5/10
The goalkeeper did waste quite an amount of time and he wasn’t really tested throughout the night.
Zouma – 7.5/10
Stoke were defensively solid and much of that credit goes to Zouma. He prevented the Watford attackers from getting near the goal.
Shawcross – 8/10
The defender was quite instrumental in restricting Troy Deeney, and he was on his toes throughout the match.
Wimmer – 7.5/10
Wimmer plays a lot better when with Shawcross and today was one of those days. The player was organised and quite dependable even in the most trying situations.
Diouf – 6.5/10
The player was deployed in this area due to lack of options but since it is not his natural position, he was quite ineffective.
Fletcher – 9/10
The player scored the only goal of the match and was extremely strong throughout. His runs were well-timed and he established good control to keep the momentum going.
Allen – 8/10
Allen was quite effective in the middle and kept Troy Deeney in his pocket, which may have been the primary reason behind so many sparks between the duo.
Pieters – 7/10
Influential and effective, Pieters was busy for the most parts but at times, he did appear slightly wasteful.
Shaqiri – 6.5/10
Besides all the fat jokes, Shaquiri failed to do much on the field except provide an assist for the only goal of the match. However, he was incisive and accurate when it came to getting forward.
Choupo-Moting – 5/10
The player was tired throughout and contributed less. Extremely disappointing performance from Choupo-Moting, and the frustration was quite evident among the supporters.
Ramadan Sobhi – 7/10
He was solid and quite effective up front in terms of troubling the opposition defence. Ramadan played a compact game but he failed to get his name on the score sheet.
Subs:
Berahino – 7.5/10
Berahino made a couple of good runs and was his usual solid self as he came on.
Adam – N/A
Came on for Shaqiri in the 88th minute as Stoke looked to hold on to their lead.