Deulofeu hat-trick sinks Cardiff in Watford romp
LONDON: Gerard Deulofeu's first hat-trick in English football saw Watford stroll to a 5-1 victory at Cardiff on Friday and climb to seventh place in the Premier League.
Deulofeu fired Watford into a first-half lead before scoring twice in as many minutes just after the hour-mark.
Troy Deeney added further gloss with two more -- his first league goals since the start of January coming either side of a Sol Bamba consolation.
"During the season I have missed a lot of chances but today I scored three and improved my finishing," said Deulofeu. "That is the way.
"The season is really good. We have to finish at the same level. We have to keep going and be strong as a team."
Despite their second-half collapse, Bluebirds boss Neil Warnock will no doubt feel that his side should have been awarded a 42nd-minute penalty with the score at 1-0.
Josh Murphy had just made his way into the area when Daryl Janmaat clattered him from behind, but referee Simon Hooper was unmoved by frantic Cardiff appeals as he waved play on.
Watford announced before kick-off that they had reached an "amicable agreement" with Everton in their dispute over Marco Silva.
The long-running saga began when Everton targeted then Watford boss Silva following the sacking of Ronald Koeman in October 2017 but the Hornets have been doing well under Javi Gracia.