Bruce hopes points will lure back missing fans

A game both sides could have won delivered a point neither could grumble about at the end of an error-strewn match that was difficult to watch but impossible to take your eyes off.

It felt like hard work for all concerned. Two functional teams struggling to find their rhythm, delivering a contest so littered with mistakes you had to remind yourself it was a Premier League match.

Watford took the lead after just 78 seconds with Newcastle oblivious to the danger as James Cleverley picked up the ball, advanced 15 metres and was able to take aim and shoot. The ball spun off Paul Dummett before bouncing off Jamaal Lascelles into the path of Will Hughes.

Newcastle’s players looked at the floor as they traipsed back to restart the game. Not a good sign and neither were the number of empty seats, the crowd of 44,157 the lowest for seven years.

“All we can do is try to win some football matches and I’m sure they will come back if we do,” said manager Steve Bruce. “We can never take our supporters for granted, but we’ve had a decent start. We’ve got four points and we’ve had games against Arsenal and Tottenham, so I’m relatively happy.”

Newcastle were poor, one-paced, predictable and increasingly exasperating but they kept going.

Joelinton was influential in the build-up, allowing Fabian Schar to advance out of defence. The Switzerland international did not stop his run after the ball was worked out wide to Emil Krafth, who delivered a cross won by Isaac Hayden and there was Schar to guide a shot beyond Ben Foster.

Some observers insisted VAR should have been used to rule the goal out as the ball brushed Hayden’s hand, but only one camera angle showed it and there was no intervention.

“It is an important point for us,” said Watford manager Javi Gracia. “It was a good performance.”