Watford 5 Rotherham United 0
Rajovic (10, 45+4)
Kayembe (54)
Ince (86)
Martins (90+4)
Rotherham United’s travel woes carried on at Vicarage Road this afternoon as it’s now one year and three days since they won on the road.
Before the game there was a minute’s silence and the Last Post to remember the British Service Men and Women who didn’t come home after the Wars.
Cohen Bramall did well in the opening minutes to beat Yaser Asprilla to the ball stopping him getting into a position to shoot while a loose pass was a race between Ryan Porteous and Sam Nombe the Millers man getting there first and sending in a cross which was just a little too high for Jordan Hugill. Some neat work for the hosts saw Ismael Kone send in a lovely cross for Mileta Rajovic but the ball went over his head. But a minute later Watford were in front after a low cross from Ken Sema was diverted home by Rajovic. Another cross from Sema fell for Edo Kayembe whose shot bothered no-one with some minutes later Kone and Sema worked well together the latter seeing his shot saved by Millers’ ‘keeper Viktor Johansson. Although the Millers were trying to get an equaliser they never looked confident enough to shoot and when the visitors won a throw-in Sean Morrison sent it in long but it only found Asprilla who found Watford captain Wesley Hoedt but his shot from distance was an easy save for Johansson. On the half-hour mark Sam Clucas went down near the touchline and, after treatment, it was obvious his afternoon was over and was replaced by Cafu. And it was almost a great start for the Millers sub when Hugill won a free-kick in a good position which Cafu struck nicely forcing Ben Hamer to punch the ball away which fell to Christ Tiehi who sent the ball wide. Bramall was fouled by Asprilla the Millers player winning a free-kick which saw Ollie Rathbone and Tiehi set up Tiehi whose shot from some twenty-five yards out went inches past the upright. The first yellow of the game went to Cafu for a foul on Ryan Andrews which was followed by another foul this time by Tiehi on Asprilla. And with four of the five added minutes Sema had so much room to pass to Rajovic it was unbelievable and he fired the ball into the top of the net to give the hosts a two-nil lead going in at half-time.
The Millers came close to halving the deficit just minutes into the second half when Ollie Rathbone was first to a lose ball and flew up the pitch his shot from distance going just wide. The Millers had another couple of free-kicks which came to nothing before Sean Morrison and Seb Revan were replaced with Daniel Ayala and Fred Onyedinma. Two minutes later Watford were three in front. Again the Millers were leaving gaps at the back, probably all the players trying to move forward, and a superb pass from Ryan Porteous found Edo Kayembe who turned and put the ball past Viktor Johansson into the net to make it three-nil and his first goal for the Hornets. A Cafu corner found the head of Ayala forcing Ben Hamer to make a save. Porteous was booked for a foul on Jordan Hugill and just after the hour mark referee Stephen Martin showed Yaser Asprilla a yellow for stopping the Millers take a free-kick which was the Colombian’s last action as he was replaced by Matheus Martins. More changes followed with Watford fetching on Tom Ince and Giorgi Chakvetadze for Jamal Lewis and Jake Livermore while Rotherham replaced Jordan Hugill and Lee Peltier with Hakeem Odoffin and Georgie Kelly. Bramall did well to send Sam Nombe on his way but the striker sending the ball wide before he advanced with the ball again and sent it into the box for Kelly but Wesley Hoedt was there to clear. Odoffin did well to win the ball in his own box and sent it long to Bramall who in turn sent the ball into the box for Kelly but the Millers sub was flagged offside before a pass from Kone fell to Martins in a good position but his shot was way over the crossbar. With ten minutes to go the visitors came close to pulling one back when a cross-come-shot from Cafu had Ben Hamer stretching to stop the ball going over the line before it fell to Bramall whose shot was deflected wide the resulting corner coming to nothing. An injury to Cafu saw him leave the pitch and the Millers found themselves down to ten men with seven minutes plus time added on to go. A Bramall corner found the head of Ayala who tried to put it in the net the ball being turned away by a defender but only as far as Kelly who tried to knock the ball into a dangerous area only for the flag to go up as the ball had gone out of play. Rhys Healey was the next Hornets player to come off the bench, Mileta Rajovic going the other way. Minutes later Watford were four up after Ryan Andrews got the ball up field quickly, finding Ince in the box waiting whose shot went into the bottom corner of the goal. With two minutes of normal time to go another change for the hosts saw Tom Dele-Bashiru replaces Ismael Kone. A cross from Martins found Kayembe who saw his shot go wide which was followed by Johansson doing well to get down to a shot from Dele-Bashiru. A couple of free-kicks for the Millers came to nothing and in the fourth minute of seven added on Healey sent a nice ball through for Martins who saw his shot nestle in the bottom corner of the net to make it five-nil and leave the Millers the long trek home with nothing.
Another bad day at the office? Did our players look naive? Why don’t we seem able to defend away from home? Where’s the passion?
I’m afraid I don’t know the answers but it’s not looking good from where I was sitting.
Attendance – 17,349
Referee – Stephen Martin
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