Watford rue missed chances in Stoke City Carabao Cup defeat

Although the Hornets fell behind, they had more than enough opportunities to have taken control of the tie instead of being only on level terms before they were shocked by Stoke’s double salvo in the latter stages of the second half.

The Hornets had looked comfortable enough in the opening stages but they were jolted into action midway through the opening period when the visitors capitalised on some poor defending by Jeremy Ngakia to take the lead through Nick Powell.

The hosts responded immediately and had chances to level before the interval, the best falling to Adam Masina when he fired over from inside the six-yard box.

But with debutant Ozan Tufan having an increasingly eye-catching impact on proceedings, seeking to take the game by the scruff of the neck with some driving runs from midfield, it looked to be a matter of when, and not if, the hosts would level.

The goal arrived just after the hour mark when Ashley Fletcher back-heeled into an unguarded net from very close range after Cucho Hernandez had been denied by the latest good save by Adam Davies.

The hosts were in the ascendency and looked set to go on and win the tie, but it was the visiting fans who were celebrating at full-time.

Sam Clucas came off the bench to curl a shot beyond Elliot from the edge of the area and while the home side were seeking to recover from that, they conceded a third when Josh Tymon sent what looked like a mis-hit cross looping over Elliot.

Xisco Munoz had already stated that Tufan would make his debut and he was one of an entire team the head coach changed from the starting XI that won 3-1 at Norwich City on Saturday.

Elliot also made his Hornets debut, making his first appearance since a 1-0 defeat for Newcastle United against Manchester City in December 2017, in what remained a strong-looking team despite the wholesale changes.

Replacements including Tom Cleverley and Emmanuel Dennis were on the bench if required alongside summer arrivals Kwadwo Baah and James Morris.

Stoke boss Michael O’Neill also made substantial changes, eight from the team that lost 2-1 at troubled Derby County at the weekend.

Former Hornet Ben Wilmot was one of the three to retain his place, while there was another Vicarage Road ‘old boy’ on the bench in keeper Jack Bonham.

Stoke came flying out of the blocks and had the first attempt inside the opening 40 seconds when Alfie Doughty attacked down the left, playing a give-and-go with Jordan Thompson before powering an angled cross-shot a few feet over Elliot’s crossbar.

The Hornets soon started to pop the ball around as the game continued to start an encouraging tempo, with Ken Sema seeing a shot blocked after a mistake at the back had given the ball to Hernandez as the hosts pressed high.

Imran Louza, who had started promisingly in the holding midfield role, then prompted an attack involving Tufan and Fletcher before the ball was worked out to the right but Ngakia over-hit his cross.

The game then settled down, but Watford remained the dominant side in possession as they patiently sought to try and break down the five players strung across the Stoke backline.

The visitors did have an opportunity when Tymon held off Louza, catching him in the face as he did so, before breaking forward and finding Powell on the right edge of the 18-yard box, but he dragged his shot wide of the near post.

Stoke celebrate taking the lead

The Hornets continued to look comfortable only to concede in poor fashion in the 25th minute.

Ngakia was seemingly in control of the situation as he sought to fend off Doughty close to the corner flag but he allowed himself to be out-muscled as the Stoke man got away from him and centred towards the near post where Powell got across the front of the defence to apply the fashion and give the visitors a 1-0 lead.

That setback immediately sparked the Hornets back into life as Masina tried his luck with a right-footed effort from 25 yards which Davies could only parry out to the right side of the area where Hernandez picked up the ball, cutting it back for Dan Gosling whose right-footed shot on the turn produced a much better stop from the keeper.

Gosling had another opportunity soon after, heading over at the back post after Hernandez had more joy down the right flank.

But the home side spurned a great chance to make it 1-1 in the 33rd minute when, following a corner, Ngakia clipped a lovely pass back over the defence to the right where Christian Kabasele had timed his run, heading back across goal but Masina couldn’t get over his attempted finish in the six-yard box and put the ball over the top.

The opportunities kept coming for the left-back, this time a Hernandez cross from the right was headed on by Fletcher and the Moroccan international chose to hit it first time from the edge of the area but fired his right-footed effort wide.

The next opportunity fell Stoke’s way from a corner three minutes before the interval when a deep corner to the back post saw Danny Batth rise highest above teammate Sam Surridge, but they rather got in each other’s way and the header wide went.

Former Hornet Ben Wilmot seeks to protect the ball from Ken Sema

Stoke took their one-goal lead into the break but they had Davies to thank for keeping it that way within 40 seconds of the restart.

Ngakia did well to win the ball close to the right touchline before finding Hernandez in space on the flank, he advanced before sending over a cross which was met by the stooping Fletcher and the Stoke keeper did well to keep out the low header.

Stoke responded with livewire Doughty receiving the ball on the left and attacking Ngakia at pace before hitting a rising strike from a relatively tight angle over the top.

Back came Watford with a searching cross-field ball giving Hernandez the opportunity to again attack the right side of the Stoke defence, only for his attempted cross to be deflected.

The resultant corner almost caused the Hornets immediate problems as Ngakia was forced into a one-on-one sprint to beat a Stoke player, but the youngster showed good composure, knocking the ball back to Elliot and immediately showing for the ball to start another attack.

This saw Tufan break forward at pace before feeding Hernandez, who again picked out the head of Fletcher but he was unable to seriously trouble Davies on this occasion.

Tufan was looking to increasingly take the game by the scruff of the neck, catching the eye again when he received a pass from Hernandez and squared for Gosling only for him to flash his attempted finish wide from 12 yards.

The Hornets get back on terms

The equaliser was coming though, and it duly arrived just after the hour mark.

An incisive pass set Fletcher away on the inside left channel and he drove forward before picking out Hernandez, whose right-finish was well saved by the legs of Davies but the ball broke for Fletcher near the far post on the inside of the six-yard box and the striker had the presence of mind to back-heel the ball into the net.

The visitors responded by making a double change in the 67th minute as Abdallah Sima and Sam Clucas replaced Surridge and Doughty respectively.

Within four minutes, the Stoke goal was to lead a very charmed life when Masina clipped in a cross from the left, Hernandez’s diving header rebounded back off Davies’ right-hand upright and Fletcher looked odds-on to convert the rebound, only for his follow-up to be deflected behind.

Both sides made a change in the 74th minute, Romaine Sawyers replacing Powell while Moussa Sissoko came on for Louza.

Emmanuel Dennis was preparing to enter the fray with 10 minutes remaining when the majority of Vicarage Road was plunged into silence.

Although Stoke had possession in the Hornets area, there didn’t appear to be any immediate danger when the ball was laid back to Clucas but his low, left-footed curler took a slight deflection off Sissoko and beat Elliot in the far corner to give the visitors a shock 2-1 lead.

Sam Clucas celebrates firing Stoke in front

Dennis did make his entrance for Gosling immediately after, only for Clucas to almost repeat his trick in the 84th minute, this time curling a left-footed strike against the bar from the edge of the area after being teed up by Sima.

Stoke didn’t have long to wait for their third though, although it arrived in somewhat fortuitous circumstances.

The ball was worked out to the left where Tymon clearly intended to cross, only to send the ball looping over the stranded Elliot and into the far corner.

If further proof were needed that it was the visitors’ night, it arrived when Sema did very well to wriggle away into space on the left and pull the back for Sissoko, whose shot looked destined for the far corner, only for it to hit Fletcher. This was followed by a long distance effort from Tufan which Davies parried away, leaving the Hornets scratching their collective heads at full-time as the visitors celebrated.

Watford: Elliot; Ngakia, Kabasele, Sierralta, Masina; Louza (Sissoko 74); Hernandez, Tufan, Gosling (Dennis 80), Sema; Fletcher. Subs not used: Foster, Troost-Ekong, Cleverley, Baah, Morris.

Stoke City: Davies; Wilmot, Baath, Chester; Duhaney, Powell (Sawyers 74), Thompson, Tymon, Doughty (Clucas 67); Brown, Surridge (Sima 67). Subs not used: Bonham, Vrancic, Ostigard, Ince.

Bookings: Baath for kicking the ball away (90).

Attendance: 8,421.

Referee: Tony Harrington.