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Derby stay top after Craig Bryson’s stunning late strike sinks Watford Derby stay top after Craig Bryson’s stunning late strike sinks Watford
(about 7 hours later)
Just over a year ago, in Steve McClaren’s first away game in charge of Derby, he came to Watford and had to fight extremely hard. Twice Derby took the lead, twice Watford fought back, before McClaren’s men won 3-2. There was similar drama this time round, as Watford equalised after 67 minutes, only for Craig Bryson to ensure Derby remained on top of the Championship, with a thunderous strike from 25 yards. Win, lose or draw – and it turned out to be the middle option for Watford, you could argue Slavisa Jokanovic was a winner just for being on the touchline. In the previous two international breaks, Watford’s owners changed managers but the Serb survived this most recent break.
The state of mind of these teams going into this game was diametrically opposed. In their last game before the international break, Derby were rampant and beat Wolves 5-0 at the iPro stadium, a result that took them top of the Championship. Watford, by contrast, lost at Ipswich, having also managed somehow to lose away against Birmingham at the start of the month. The break may have been something of a blessing for Slavisa Jokanovic, the Watford manager. He had two weeks to work his players out of that mini-slump, just as his side had inched their way into the top six. But he must know he now needs to change the club’s fortunes. However close it was, this was Watford’s third consecutive defeat. They started the day in the play-off places but this defeat meant they slipped to seventh and there is a six-point gap between them and Derby, who top the Championship.
Actually, Jokanovic still being employed by Watford after an international break was a feat in itself. The breaks in September and last month featured a change of manager at Vicarage Road, so the Serb must be doing something right. And he is. After all, Watford started this game only three points behind Derby. That Jokanovic’s men made it hard for Derby was not news to Steve McClaren. In October last year, in McClaren’s first away game as Derby’s manager, they had to fend off two Watford comebacks before winning 3-2. That Derby let Watford back into this game was the baffling part.
The break did not hurt McClaren’s first team: he picked 10 of the team that beat Wolves. The only change was Jordan Ibe coming in for Simon Dawkins. Having taken the lead through Jordan Ibe, their probing and patient method should have put them ahead to the tune of two or three goals. Having beaten Wolves 5-0 two weeks ago, maybe they thought the goals would simply flow again. It wasn’t to be. Chris Martin, their leading scorer, failed to find the net against Wolves and was off-colour here as well. One second-half chance was presented to him, but he chose to try and go around Jonathan Bond, playing for the injured Heurelho Gomes, and he fluffed his lines.
However, Jokanovic was forced to make an unwelcome change: Jonathan Bond was in goal for only his second start of the season as Heurelho Gomes was injured. But Bond showed no sign of rust when, after five minutes, he pushed Jeff Hendrick’s low shot on to the post. Bond did even better when Chris Martin, Derby’s leading scorer, was given a run on goal, but the keeper touched his shot away for a corner. But a Derby goal in the first half was inevitable. Simon Dawkins was being rested by McClaren, leading to a chance for Ibe in the front three. Johnny Russell picked out his team-mate with a long, cross field pass, Ibe cut inside Juan Carlos Paredes, the right-back, and curled his shot beyond Bond’s reach.
Yet there was nothing Bond could do about Derby’s first goal, six minutes before the break. Johnny Russell picked out Ibe with a long pass, he cut inside Juan Carlos Paredes, the right-back, and curled his shot beyond Bond’s reach. McClaren said his team then slackened off in the second half and it had cost them. “We had lost our moment, we needed a second goal,” he said. “The save when Chris Martin went in on their goalkeeper turned it for them. We got punished when we stopped taking the game to Watford.”
The early exchanges were all about Derby’s control of the game and probing passing. Yet Watford were not entirely passive and after 25 minutes Jack Butland saved well from Troy Deeney. Four minutes later, Fernando Forestieri’s poor control eight yards out allowed Derby to clear the danger. The punishment was spectacular but not fatal. Gianni Munari, who had been on the pitch as a substitute for five minutes, scored Watford’s fine equaliser, and suddenly the momentum was with them.
Watford’s equaliser came from excellent work by Gianni Munari. On as a substitute for only five minutes, the Italian drove forward and ran into the penalty area, hitting his shot high past Butland. A minute after Munari’s goal, Matej Vydra, another substitute, should have scored Watford’s second. He had enough time to choose which bit of the net to hit, instead he pushed his shot just wide. Jokanovic rued that miss. “Sometimes football is unfair,” he said.
A minute later, Watford should have taken the lead, which would have been fair reward for the way they picked up the pace of the game, as Derby sat back, waiting for chances to counterattack – unless Derby were simply tired. That was to be Watford’s best chance for a winner as Derby got on the front foot again, when Craig Bryson came on, one of their best players last season. As play around Watford’s penalty area grew more feverish, the ball rolled out to Bryson, and from 25 yards, he found the far top corner of Bond’s goal.
Matej Vydra was 18 yards out and the substitute had time to pick the piece of netting he wanted to hit. But he missed and left the door open for Bryson, another substitute, to win the game. On those fractions are teams’ fortunes decided. For McClaren, it showed the beauty of having a good squad. Two players, neither of whom started the win against Wolves, had scored the goals. “It’s a good team, a good squad,” he said “People like Ibe, Bryson come on and make an impact.”
For the rest of the league, it is all beginning to look a bit ominous.