Never in doubt.
Four changes for the Tricky Reds for the lunchtime kickoff at Vicarage Road today, with Alisson and Fabinho both unavailable after international duty for Brazil this week. This meant starts for Kelleher and Keïta, with Trent and Bobby also returning to the starting lineup after the draw with Manchester City two weeks ago. The hosts welcomed Claudio Ranieri as their new manager; the Italian couldn’t have wished for a more challenging first game with his new club.
The visitors were immediately on the front foot and Mané headed through to Salah, whose vicious shot crashed off the crossbar. The flag went up for offside, but it was a bright start and Rose then had to deflect another shot from Mo behind for a corner.
After nine minutes, the Reds’ early pressure paid off as Salah, who had been tormenting Rose, spun his man and slipped it through to Sadio, who slid the ball past the stranded Foster first time. It was Sadio’s one hundredth Premier League goal. 1-0 to the good guys.
Robertson fed Mo, whose shot towards the top corner was clawed away at full stretch by Foster; Rose then blocked Salah‘s shot near the penalty spot. The Reds were rampant and Mo should have doubled the lead when Trent released him just after the half hour mark, but the Egyptian’s touch was uncharacteristically poor and allowed Foster time to make the block.
The visitors didn’t have to wait too long for their second goal, though, as Firmino released Naby, who in turn found Milner in space on the left. The veteran drilled the ball into the box and the Brazilian, who had started the move, was on hand to tap home. 2-0 after 37 minutes.
Naby nearly made it three but his raking shot was deflected onto the bar and behind for a corner. The Guinea international was denied by Femenia just before the halftime whistle, after good play by Mo.
As the players trudged off for their halftime oranges, the Reds had clearly been the better side and the hosts had barely got out of their own half. One-way traffic, then, but (as usual) we should have been out of sight and there remained that nagging doubt that if Watford could score early in the second half things could get uncomfortable for us.
The second stanza started as the first had ended, with the Reds utterly dominant. Salah again tried to set up Naby but this time Troost-Ekong intervened; Mo then had another curling effort saved by Foster after cutting in from the right.
It wasn’t long before the visitors extended their lead, as Bobby bagged a brace with a tap-in after Cathcart inadvertently sent the ball towards his own goal trying to block Salah’s shot. Mo had been offside from Robertson’s pass but, as the defender deliberately made an attempt to play the ball, offside didn’t apply. A stupid rule, in my opinion, but that’s the way the authorities want it done. 3-0 after 52 minutes.
And it was four two minutes later, as Mo scored a world class goal- possibly even better than his stunner against Manchester City at Anfield last time out. He received the ball on the right of the D and slalomed past no less than four Watford defenders before curling low into the bottom left. It was like something out of The Matrix, with all the defenders in slow motion, limbs akimbo. Quite stunning.
Kucka forced Kelleher into his first save of the match in the 56th minute, with a hopeful long-range effort which the young Irishman gathered easily. Trent and Robbo were removed, with one eye obviously on Tuesday, just after the hour mark and replaced by Ox and Tsimikas respectively, with Millie dropping back into the right back slot.
Trent had a shot deflected narrowly wide with Foster completely wrong-footed; Watford had a free kick which resulted in a bit of playground football in the Liverpool area but, after Virgil cleared, the flag went up for offside against the home team anyway. Keïta blasted over from the edge of the box.
Foster then nicked the ball off Bobby’s head from Kostas’ cross; the brilliantly-toothed Brazilian then fed Sadio but the latter’s shot rolled agonisingly wide. Another poor touch from Mo enabled Foster to gather at his feet; it could have been seven or eight by now.
Millie was replaced by Neco Williams, making his return to action from injury, with seven minutes left on the clock and the home side then had their best chance of the match, with Sarr forcing Kelleher into a low save. The ‘keeper turned the winger’s low shot onto his left-hand post and behind for a corner. Sarr had a header at the near post blocked.
Bobby landed his hat trick with the last kick of the game, tucking away Neco’s low cross from the right and that was that. An easy three points for the Reds and comprehensive revenge for the 3-0 defeat we suffered here in February 2020.
Next up is a tricky trip to Madrid to face Atletico in the Champions League on Tuesday evening. Our aforementioned Brazilian duo will be back, not that their replacements did anything wrong today, and there’s a possibility of Thiago being back too. We owe this lot one after they knocked us out of this tournament in 2020, just before the first Covid lockdown.
MOTM: those good people at 45 Jermyn St. The flagship restaurant at Fortnum & Mason provides excellent quality at reasonable (for London, at least) prices and does the best Full English breakfast in town. Well worth a trip if you’re ever in the area. Just don’t down too many of their Hinomaru Mary (a variation on the Bloody Mary, using Japanese gin and Sriracha) cocktails too quickly.
64’ Kostas TSIMIKAS on, Andrew ROBERTSON off
9’ Sadio MANE (Assist Mo Salah)