Watford vs Luton Town FC (23rd Oct 2022)

Report | Watford 4-0 Luton Town

Town suffered a derby defeat to Watford in the lunchtime kick-off at Vicarage Road, with the hosts climbing to within a point and a place of the Hatters in the Championship table.

Watford took all three points from the first derby to be played in front of fans for 16 years with two goals in each half, Keinan Davis and William Troost-Ekong netting before half-time, Joao Pedro and Ismaila Sarr scoring after the break.

The Hatters were reduced to ten men with substitute Gabe Osho shown a straight red card in the 83rd minute for a late challenge on Ken Sema, with the near-2,000 travelling support heading home disappointed, but still giving their team a tremendous ovation at the final whistle.

Following the 1-0 victory away at Norwich in midweek, captain Sonny Bradley returned to the starting line-up with Dan Potts named on the bench, although both were struggling with illness that had ripped through the Hatters squad overnight.

Henri Lansbury had been unable to travel due to the bug, while Luke Berry was also listed on the teamsheet, but unable to take part having become unwell in the build-up.

Alfie Doughty kept his place in the team, but moved to wing-back with Amari'i Bell filling Potts' berth on the left side of the three centre-backs, whilst Luke Freeman came into midfield.

Elijah Adebayo joined Carlton Morris up front, with Harry Cornick starting on the bench along with fellow forward Cameron Jerome.

Town got off to the worst possible start when they fell a goal behind inside the first three minutes, with Davis volleying Hassane Kamara's left-wing cross in from close range.

Allan Campbell came within an inch of of levelling three minutes later, but his shot fizzed just the wrong side of the post after Morris had done well to control Bell's cross from the left.

Freeman headed Tom Lockyer's ninth-minute cross straight at home keeper Daniel Bachmann after good build-up play on the right, before Ethan Horvath pulled off a wonderful left-handed save to keep out Sarr's 20-yarder.

Bradley was the first player into referee Bobby Madley's notepad for a perfectly timed challenge on Joao Pedro, right in front of the linesman, in which the Hatters captain clearly played the ball against the Watford forward before he went over.

Davis, who might have been booked for over-celebrating his goal in front of the Hatters supporters but received a quiet word along with his captain, Craig Catchcart, instead, was soon shown yellow for dissent after a tangle with Bradley.

Then Edo Kayembe tested Horvath from outside the area on the half-hour, before Madley gave another strange foul against Morris for a foul on Gosling, when it appeared that the offence had been committed by the home defender.

Adebayo soared above Bachmann to head a Freeman cross onto the roof of the net on 35 minutes, and Horvath needed to race off his line to save from Davis with his feet after the Watford striker had spun Bradley just inside the area.

It was 2-0 on the stroke of half-time when Troost-Ekong poked home from close range after Davis had headed Pedro's deep cross back from the far post, with the aid of a deflection of Campbell to take it past Bradley and along the face of goal.

Jones made a change at the break, bringing Gabe Osho on for Bradley, and it was the substitute who - along with Lockyer - almost got on the end of a left-wing corner from Bree, but couldn't connect as the ball flew across the six-yard box.

It was 3-0 in the 57th minute when Pedro intercepted Horvath's attampted pass to Lockyer on the edge of the area, and beat the USA international with his right-footed finish.

Jones immediately made a second substitution, bringing on Cornick in place of Freeman, and it was the Hatters who had the next chance, but Morris couldn't get enough purchase on his header to steer the ball past Bachmann, who gathered on his line.

Cornick saw a 71st-minute shot fly past the far post after being teed up by Morris to the left angle of the area, then Clark had Bachmann diving low to his right to keep out a skidding 25-yarder.

The hosts added a fourth ten minutes from time when Sarr cut inside Bree and curled his effort into the bottom corner of Horvath's net, then Osho was dismissed three minutes later with the Town's seven-match unbeaten run over by the time Horvath produced another fine save to deny sub Yaser Asprilla in injury-time.

Thank you to every Hatter who sang their hearts out at the stadium, as well as the thousands watching at home on iFollow. Your team remain eighth in the table on 24 points, with Watford a point and place behind in ninth, as we head into next Saturday's date with Sunderland at Kenilworth Road.

Goals: Davis 3, Troost-Ekong 45, Pedro 57, Sarr 80

Att: 19,282 (1,954 Hatters)

Reaction | Nathan Jones on Watford defeat

Manager Nathan Jones shared his disappointment with today’s defeat against Watford.

The home side scored two goals in each half to condemn Luton to a first defeat in eight matches and the boss gave his thoughts on the loss when speaking to BBC Three Counties after the game.

“They scored goals today but there was context to it. We have put in big, big shifts in the last four games, three of which have been away. West Brom, Norwich, Watford here and QPR at home.

“We are unbeaten in three with seven points which is a good haul and we can’t forget that. Today we got decimated by an illness bug. We lost Henri Lansbury, we lost Luke Berry and Dan Potts. They were on the bench and even though they were named they didn’t come out.

“We were decimated by it, Sonny Bradley had it as well so it was right through the squad and today we looked lacklustre.

“We gave away goals that we never give away. First two minutes we don’t mark in the box. We have given the ball away three times in the six years I have been here that have led directly to goals. Once at Derby away and twice today.

“I’m really disappointed and really gutted. I apologise to the fans for what they have had to go through today. It is the last place we wanted to come to (and lose).”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dQYWui_MJo – Nathan Jones interview

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ospd3lJuG_Y – Tom Lockyer interview

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUq0p-kQOrY – match highlights

Hatters fall to humbling derby day Watford defeat

Championship: Watford 4 Luton Town 0

Luton saw their seven game unbeaten run ended at the worst place possible, beaten 4-0 by fierce rivals Watford this afternoon.

After waiting 16 years to attend a local derby at Vicarage Road, the near 2,000 supporters who made the short trip were in for a 90 minutes they will want to erase from their memory banks, and quickly, Town delivering a defensive display miles away from the kind of ones that had seen them go into the contest undefeated for such a lengthy spell

Boss Nathan Jones made three changes, captain Sonny Bradley, Elijah Adebayo and Luke Freeman coming in from the 1-0 win at Norwich on Tuesday night, Dan Potts and Harry Cornick dropping to the bench and Fred Onyedinma missing out completely.

For all the pre-match hype, the visitors then got off to the worst start imaginable, as following a brief spell of pressure, the hosts worked the ball to the left when Hassane Kamara cross's saw on-loan Aston Villa forward Keinan Davis produce a scorpion kick volley to break the deadlock with just three minutes gone.

Luton were almost level moments later though as Amari'i Bell's cross saw Carlton Morris involved, Allan Campbell's low left footer just inches away from making it 1-1.

The visitors continued to respond well to falling behind, keeping the ball alive on the right and Tom Lockyer picking out Freeman to direct his header straight at Daniel Bachmann.

Luton were then indebted to a big save from Ethan Horvath as with Davis sidestepping Bradley, Luton backed off and off inviting him to shoot, which he did from 18 yards, Town's keeper sticking out a strong left hand to turn behind for a corner.

Referee Bobby Madley got himself involved with a terrible decision to book Bradley after he executed the perfect sliding challenge on his man, Town's skipper quite rightly incredulous with the decision.

Luton had their moments, but they were finding the hosts' midfield containing Joao Pedro and Edo Kayembe too strong to break down, with Horvath needing his wits about him to gather a low cross when Bree was beaten by the flight of the ball.

His handling was also spot on when Kayembe went for goal on his left foot, as Town remained just the one goal behind.

With 35 gone, Luton then worked a decent opportunity, Bradley stepping out to intercept a pass forward and find Freeman who hung up a cross that Adebayo met ahead of the onrushing Bachmann, only to see his header drop on to the roof of the net.

Town were indebted another fine stop from Horvath just before half time as Bradley was turned with ease by Davis, the USA international out sharply to deny him with his legs.

However, he was then picking the ball out of the net on 44 minutes, Watford grabbing a crucial second goal.

A corner was played short and swung into the back post where Campbell and Alfie Doughty were outjumped, Bradley unable to adjust his feet to clear, defender William Troost-Ekong bundling the ball into the roof of the net.

Jones made a change at the break, taking off the already cautioned Bradley, who had been struggling with Davis in the opening 45 minutes, Gabe Osho on in his place.

To their credit, the Hatters came out for the second period with a renewed intensity, as they should have been just one behind six minutes in, Bree's corner missed by a stretching Lockyer from a matter of yards, the ball hitting Osho and bouncing over the top.

However, those hopes were all bit evaporated on 57 minutes when Town got themselves in trouble at the back and Horvath's pass out was straight to Pedro, who was able to steady himself and beat the red-faced keeper to make it 3-0.

The midfielder almost set up a fourth, a mazy run forward too good for both Clark and Campbell, who saw yellow for trying to hack him down, Kayembe dragging off target.

Luton might have had one back on the hour mark, Clark with the inch-perfect cross from the left but Morris's glancing header was straight at Bachmann.

Looking for a consolation to give their travelling faithful something to cheer on an instantly forgettable visit, sub Harry Cornick's angled drive flew wide, with Jordan Clark testing Bachmann, who gathered his low 20-yarder.

With the beleaguered Hatters now with an eye on the full time whistle, there was still time for further misery, another defensive error seeing Lockyer this time caught out, Watford moving the ball left to Ismaila Sarr, who with all the ease in the world, cut inside Bree and curled beyond Horvath.

Cornick tried to raise the spirits, his flick bouncing wide, but just when things didn't look like they could get worse, they did with seven minutes to go, Osho lunging in with a late challenge and shown a straight red by Madley, earning himself a verbal volley from a clearly annoyed Jones as he trudged down the tunnel.

Horvath prevented an even more embarrassing finale, using his legs smartly to stop Yaser Asprilla giving a buoyant home crowd even more ammunition against their rivals, who will now have to wait until April to get their revenge back at Kenilworth Road.

Hornets: Daniel Bachmann, Hamza Choudhury (Mario Gaspar 75), William Troost-Ekong, Keinan Davis (Vakoun Bayo 70), Joao Pedro (Yaser Asprilla 84), Ken Sema, Hassane Kamara, Craig Cathcart (C), Dan Gosling, Ismaila Sarr (Samuel Kalu 84), Edo Kayembe.

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Subs not used: Maduka Okoye, Mattie Pollock, James Morris.

Hatters: Ethan Horvath, James Bree, Tom Lockyer, Sonny Bradley (C Gabe Osho 46), Amari'i Bell, Alfie Doughty, Luke Freeman (Harry Cornick 58), Allan Campbell (Louie Watson 87), Jordan Clark, Carlton Morris (Cameron Jerome 78), Elijah Adebayo.

Subs not used: Harry Isted, Dan Potts, Luke Berry.

Referee: Bobby Madley.

Booked: Bradley 17, Davis 30, Doughy 51, Cornick 66, Sema 66.

Sent off: Osho 83.

Attendance: 19,282 (Luton 1,954).

Luton boss blast defending as he reveals Town were 'decimated' by sickness bug ahead of Hornets defeat

Trio went down with illness this morning

Luton boss Nathan Jones revealed his side were left ‘decimated’ by a sickness bug ahead of their 4-0 defeat against Watford this afternoon. The Town chief made three changes to his side for the contest at Vicarage Road, with Dan Potts, Harry Cornick and Fred Onyedinma missing out from the 1-0 win at Norwich in midweek, while Henri Lansbury wasn’t on the bench either.

Jones admitted afterwards that both Potts and Lansbury would have started, but were unable to due an illness picked up on the morning of the game, meaning he had to change the team late on.

He also confirmed that captain Sonny Bradley started despite suffering as well, the skipper replaced at half time by Gabe Osho, after he had struggled to contain Keinan Davis, with Town already 2-0 behind courtesy of some below-par defending.

The second period saw Watford add two more goals to their tally to complete a woeful 90 minutes for the visitors, who also had Osho sent off late on for a poor challenge, as Jones said: “It’s a disappointing afternoon and we realise that.

“Congratulations to Watford, kind of apology to the fans as I didn’t want them to go through that today.

“They stuck with us, they were brilliant, so we’re really disappointed we let them down today, but we’ve been on a wonderful run of form and today there was real context, a sickness bug has decimated us.

“We lost Henri Lansbury, we lost Dan Potts, we lost (Luke) Berry, even though they were on the bench, they weren’t in the dug-out, they were on a bed in the changing room.

“We lost Sonny Bradley but he had to play and its gone through the team, so there’s real context, but our defence today was something we haven’t done.

“The last two goals were balls we turned over in our own half, we've only done that once in six years and we've done that twice more today, so it’s really out of character for us today that type of performance.”

Going into more detail on just how his side had been hit ahead of kick-off, Jones continued: “Literally this morning, we lost Henri Lansbury, he woke up this morning and we had to change the team as three of them went down with it, but we didn't have enough to fill the bench.

“We need full energy to come here today and we weren’t and that’s not an excuse, we congratulate Watford and they've just caught us on a really bad day and we just have to rectify that.

“He (Bradley) had no energy, he’d been sick, I had to name them (Potts and Berry) on the bench as otherwise it looks like I've named five subs and then we look weak.

“Dan Potts for the full duration of the game was on a bed in the changing room, it may have looked like we had a full squad but we didn't.

“We lost Fred, we lost Henri, so it really costly day for us.”

Although bitterly disappointed to be beaten in a game that the Hatters had placed so much importance on, Jones didn’t want to lose sight of just how good his side have been in recent weeks, adding: “It was a really frustrating afternoon and then everything seemed to be compounded today.

“We started really badly, didn’t defend well the first two or three minutes that settles them down because they're probably under a little bit of pressure.

“They bounced back, they'll be happy, but let's not lose perspective.

“We've been on a wonderful run, we've had a great week, the last four games we’ve been three away to West Brom, Norwich and Watford which are three ex-Premer League sides.

“We’ve stayed unbeaten in three of the four games and beat QPR at home, so we're not in the worst position, it's just today hurts because of who it is and the manner of it.”

Town chief labels defender Osho 'stupid' for late red card in Watford drubbing

Second half substitute given his marching orders at Vicarage Road

Luton boss Nathan Jones labelled defender Gabe Osho as ‘stupid’ after he was sent off late on in this afternoon’s 4-0 defeat at Watford.

The 24-year-old, who had only just come back from missing the last four games due to injury, replaced Sonny Bradley at the interval with the Hatters already trailing 2-0.

Two more goals for the hosts meant the result was already beyond the visitors, before with seven minutes to go, Osho, having been challenged when trying to break forward, then went diving in on Ken Sema on the touchline to be given his marching orders by Bobby Madley.

A first straight red of his career followed for Osho, who was given a verbal volley from his manager as he trudged down the tunnel, with the boss saying afterwards: “I’m disappointed, we spoke about discipline, he’s a young boy, the game’s done, it’s dead, he doesn’t need to give the referee a decision.

“Whether it is a red or not, he’s just come back from injury, he’s learning his trade, to do that is just stupid and we’ll deal with that.”

Town defender Tom Lockyer was surprised to see Osho make such a tackle, as he continued: “Gabe’s gutted, I didn’t see the incident myself, but for the big calls the ref got most of them right.

"For the little ones it felt like they were getting a bit more than us, but I spoke to Gabe and I don’t think he’s got too many complaints with it.

"I’m a bit shocked as that’s not the type of player Gabe is and I thought he did really well when he came on second half.

"The changes of shape really helped us with going up against their front three and we were just building into the game until the third goal.

“Gabe will only be disappointed with that, but he's still young and he’ll have to learn from that.

"I think the most frustrating thing from that now is a little lapse of concentration, little bit of madness and we've lost him for three games.”

Referee Madley, a former top flight official, had a mixed game at times, opting to book Sonny Bradley in the first half for what was a perfectly executed sliding challenge, as Jones added: “I’ve got to be honest with you, we didn't lose out on a refereeing decision today, but you're starting not to know the rules anymore now.

“He got the ball, it should have been our throw-in and he gets booked for it.

“I think it was something to do with the aggressive manner he went in, then (Craig) Cathcart puts in a great challenge.

"The aggression was outrageous, but it was a great challenge, puts it into the stands, so I have no idea what the rules are anymore, I don’t.

“There’s no point me arguing as one, I'll get in trouble and two, I'm not actually sure I know what I’m on about.”