Watford 1 - 0 SwanseaSwansea’s relegation worries deepen after Watford’s Étienne Capoue pounces
Home team scorersEtienne Capoue 42
An error from Swansea’s Alfie Mawson led to Watford’s winning goal at Vicarage Road in a defeat that kept the visitors in trouble inside the Premier League bottom three.
Étienne Capoue capitalised on Mawson’s sloppiness to score the only goal of a dull encounter, the victory all but securing Watford’s top-flight status. But it was a fifth loss in six games for Swansea, who are still two points from safety with five matches to play.
Swansea’s goalless draw at home to Middlesbrough a fortnight ago is the only match from which Paul Clement’s side have gained a point since beating Burnley at the start of March.
Things had started brightly for Swansea here though, with Heurelho Gomes making a smart save from Gylfi Sigurdsson as the Swansea captain had the game’s first decent chance.
But Gomes was at fault before the visitors passed up a glorious opportunity to take the lead with a little over 10 minutes gone. The Watford goalkeeper flapped at a Sigurdsson free-kick with the ball looping towards Federico Fernández, but the defender could only head over from six yards with the goal at his mercy.
Fernández fouled M’Baye Niang on the edge of the Swansea box but the Milan loanee could only drill the resulting free-kick straight at Lukasz Fabianski.
The Swansea goalkeeper had to be at this best moments later as Troy Deeney looked to sweep home Daryl Janmaat’s cross only to see his effort tipped over by the Poland international. Sebastian Prodl’s goalbound header from the corner that followed was deflected behind as the hosts finally stirred.
As Watford poured forward they were almost caught out from a pacey Swansea counterattack, although Ki Sung-yueng could only shoot straight at Gomes at the end of the move.
Watford were ahead four minutes before the interval as Capoue caught Mawson napping in possession, robbing the Swansea defender before turning home at the second attempt.
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The second half offered little quality and even less in the way of clear-cut chances with Watford not much better than their relegation-threatened visitors.
Abdoulaye Doucouré saw a long-range shot fly wide of the angle of Fabianski’s goal, before Fernando Llorente headed wide when well-placed as Swansea sought an equaliser.
Walter Mazzarri introduced Stefano Okaka from the bench and the Italy international thought he had wrapped up the points moments later with an acrobatic finish, only to be flagged offside.
Gomes did well to clear a Sigurdsson free-kick from under his crossbar but in truth Swansea never threatened to score the goal that would move them closer to Hull, who lost at Stoke, with Mark Hughes’s team the visitors to the Liberty Stadium next weekend.
Guardian