It was party time again for Watford for the first time since last season’s promotion back to the Premier League after an eight-year absence. At the end, Depeche Mode’s 1981 hit Just Can’t Get Enough blared out over the PA. A bare-chested Troy Deeney, their captain, saluted the ecstatic fans from the touchline in front of the Sir Elton John Stand. And the 12-year-old twin sons of Quique Sánchez Flores, the Watford manager, ran on to the pitch to give dad a hug on their first visit to a Watford match.
Vicarage Road was rocking. It was, though, more out of a huge sense of relief. Watford had secured their first victory of the season – deservedly so, too – and extinguished that gnawing feeling that they were not up to scratch in the top flight – and might never be.
Yet it could have all gone so badly wrong after they had taken the lead in the 59th minute against a strangely subdued Swansea City, when Deeney set up Odion Ighalo to decisively slot home past Lukasz Fabianski in the Swansea goal.
Five minutes later, the midfielder Valon Behrami launched into a fierce challenge on André Ayew and appeared to stamp on him. Bobby Madley issued an immediate red card.
“It was the right decision,” Garry Monk, the Swansea manager, said. “It was a nasty stamp.”
Flores needs a review. “I prefer to have a look first,” the Spaniard said. “It is very difficult, it was so quick.”
Behrami’s recklessness could have proved costly yet such was Watford’s overall superiority, they held on reasonably comfortably against a side lacking any of their usual spark and imagination.
Federico Fernández could still have spoiled the party but, five minutes into added time, the centre-back headed wildly over at the far post. An equaliser would have been an injustice. Swansea, unbeaten all season and earning plaudits all over the country, rarely threatened. “It was a poor afternoon for us,” Monk said. “It was down to a lack of focus. We were sluggish on the ball and didn’t use it in the right areas.
“I’m disappointed that we lost and the worst was the manner in which we lost. We didn’t perform as a team, any of us. But we always bounce back and react well.”
Swansea did not react well in the first half. One fierce effort from Bafétimbi Gomis, smartly saved by Heurelho Gomes, was about it.
Watford dominated the play only to squander a series of half-chances that fell to Sebastian Prödl, Deeney and Almen Abdi. They were on top again, too, before going ahead in the second half and still solid when down to 10 men, apart from Fernández’s late miss.
“We are happy with our first win,” Flores said. “We have worked hard over the past two months but that win wouldn’t come. You always want more wins, it’s your ambition, but it’s OK. We have one now and the three points. It was also very important for our fans.”
It is likely that Just Can’t Get Enough will get a few more airings here this season. But will it be enough to keep Watford in the Premier League?
