There was plenty of bad blood and seven yellow cards but no sign of any goals in a match in which Stoke and Watford did little to improve their survival prospects.
Javi Gracia, who was in charge of his first Premier League game since becoming Watford’s manager, is entitled to take some satisfaction from collecting his first point, yet it was hard to see how Paul Lambert, his opposite number, could glean many positives from a stalemate that was every bit as bad as the scoreline suggests.
The one piece of good news for Stoke is that they are out of the relegation zone, although it is hard to escape the feeling this was two points dropped for the home team on a night when Jon Moss, the referee, was as busy as anyone.
Tempers boiled over time and again, just as they did in the corresponding fixture at Vicarage Road in October, after which Troy Deeney was retrospectively banned, and it was something of a surprise the game finished with 22 players on the pitch.
It was a fractious, scrappy affair from start to finish and the smattering of boos at the final whistle were as predictable as the result. Stoke looked desperately flat, there was no real tempo to their game and a glaring lack of conviction in front of goal, where the absence of a centre-forward with a real presence continues to handicap them. Their best chance fell to Xherdan Shaqiri, who thumped a shot straight at Orestis Karnezis, the Watford goalkeeper, shortly after the hour mark.
Watford could, and possibly should, have snatched victory in the 84th minute when the ball dropped invitingly for Roberto Pereyra, who was only about six yards out. The Watford substitute ended up hitting the ball with his shin more than his boot, enabling Jack Butland to save.
Although Stoke’s Mame Diouf and Maxim Choupo-Moting had early chances, and Richarlison lifted Gerard Deulofeu’s cross over the bar from only six yards out for Watford, goalmouth action was in short supply in a game that had no real ebb and flow. The flurry of bookings hardly helped – four for Stoke and three for Watford – and at times it threatened to get a little out of hand. Christian Kabasele, the Watford defender, appeared to be guilty of play-acting, when he dramatically fell to the floor holding his face after clashing with Diouf.
It was that sort of game and not one that will live long in the memory, with the biggest cheer of the night reserved for Badou Ndiaye, a £14m signing from Galatasaray, who was introduced to the Stoke supporters on the pitch at half-time.
Lambert tried to find some encouragement from what he has seen so far. “Four points out of six and two clean sheets is a good start for me personally and for the team,” the Stoke manager said.
