THE HANGOVER 3
Party could soon be over for woeful Watford as Andre Gray’s lockdown blunder adds to boss Pearson’s relegation fears
THE party’s over for Watford after Danny Ings left Nigel Pearson with a giant hangover.
And it will take more than plinkplink-fizz before the clouds disperse after such a damaging defeat for the Hornets.
It was bad enough for manager Pearson when he had to omit three players from his matchday squad after striker Andre Gray threw a birthday party breaching lockdown rules.
Then Ings, knocking on the door of an England call-up, scored twice to extend Saints’ unbeaten record in the Premier League at Vicarage Road this century.
And Pearson is back where he came in six months ago – staring into the abyss.
Southampton, who were slick and incisive, now have 40 points in the bank and surely Ralph Hasenhuttl’s men are safe.
As for Watford, draw the curtain nurse, this is going to hurt. If they play like this over their last six games they will go down. The first half, especially, was pure
dross. Pearson’s hand was weakened before kick-off after he was forced to wield the axe following striker Gray’s outdoor party which appeared to drive a coach and horses through lockdown and social distancing guidelines.
Gray’s gathering of about 20 people at the Essex mansion he shares with Little Mix fiancee Leigh-anne Pinnock may bear little comparison with rampant title celebrations on Merseyside or sun-worshippers invading Dorset’s beaches.
But to share images of the bash on social media, for the world to see, was plain barmy. Especially when your team is flirting dangerously with the drop zone. And especially when your captain has sat out the first phase of Project Restart citing concerns about the safety of his infant son.
After Watford launched an investigation, party host Gray and team-mates Nat Chalobah and Domingos Quina were left out of the squad “to ensure the health and safety of all staff, players and officials”.
If Gray’s party was misadventure, Watford’s predicament in the Premier League quicksands is no longer just a concern. They are bang in trouble.
Shane Long scored the fastest goal in Premier League history – in just 7.69 seconds – in the corresponding fixture last year. And Saints were quick out of the blocks again at Vicarage Road, although this time it took a leisurely 16 minutes to go in front.
Ings, picking up Will Smallbone’s pass 25 yards out, brought up 20 goals for the season with a precision finish past Ben Foster.
For a side scrapping beat the drop, Watford’s failure to register a meaningful shot for 45 minutes was a disgrace.
Pearson rearranged the teacups at half-time and, for 25 minutes, they rallied, but Foster’s careless throw gifted Ings a goal (below) to make it 2-0, with the aid of a telling deflection off Craig Dawson, after 70 minutes.
And although Jan Bednarek sliced a cross from sub Jose Holebas beyond his own keeper Alex Mccarthy, Watford’s hopes of a fightback were extinguished within two minutes.
James Ward-prowse, whose late dead-ball winner at St Mary’s in November spelled the end for Pearson’s predecessor Quique Sanchez Flores, stepped up again to hit the bullseye eight minutes from time and seal Saints’ eighth away win.
How can a team that lost 9-0 at home eight months ago be so good on the road? And how can Watford recover from this harrowing defeat?
Winston Churchill once said you don’t leave a convivial party before closing time. But never mind the hangover, for Pearson it is time to read the riot act.