Watford come close to upsetting champions in spirited display

THE pace of the dribbling Ryan Giggs, the wiles of the canny Teddy Sheringham, the deadly finishing of Ole Gunnar Solksjaer or the powerfully applied talent of Dwight Yorke - any of these were likely to prove Watford's undoing at Vicarage Road on Saturday.

But Watford, apart from their seemingly compulsive toying with the self-destruct button, were in fact unhinged by a midfielder having a bad game.

Nicky Butt, whose self-appointment as the unofficial fourth official meant he felt compelled to debate every decision with the referee, had an otherwise undistinguished afternoon.

Charged with replacing the absent Roy Keane, Butt missed one first-half chance, but his major contribution to United's victory came in the 65th minute. It was then he got himself dismissed, having assaulted Micah Hyde who retaliated and also headed for the dressing room.

As Sir Alex Ferguson was to admit after the game, Hyde's departure proved decisive. Hyde may not have been enjoying an outstanding game, but he was the distinguished midfielder. While there is a tendency to notice him only when his over-dallying on the ball leads to problems, his continuity work alongside Steve Palmer gave Watford a platform from which they gave as good as they received for over an hour.

But, when Hyde left and Yorke started to probe from deeper, Watford's challenge in midfield dissipated.

Even then, Watford provided the circumstances for their own downfall. Chamberlain's poor misclearance, straight to Sheringham, was bad enough, but the keeper will be disappointed at being beaten by a relatively tame, if well-placed drive, by Yorke - the ball going across the face of goal.

The most cardinal of defensive errors is to leave the most forward-placed opponent unmarked, but that is precisely what happened when Giggs was allowed to lob Chamberlain for the second.

Two unforced errors were followed by a mistake under pressure - Page's hapless back-pass under challenge from Cruyff enabled the United player to go through and beat the stranded keeper.

It was disappointing for the afternoon had promised much. The game had started with less of an atmosphere than had been engendered by Arsenal's visit, probably because of the disappointment felt at not being able to see the likes of Cole, Stam, Beckham, Keane and Scholes.

Of course, United were without five of their recognised first team, but then Watford were also short. Smart was injured and such has been the length of time Wright and Noel-Williams have been unavailable, we tend to forget they were key members of the first team before falling foul of injuries.

Further, neither Wooter, who surprisingly remained anchored to the bench, nor Mooney, could be talked about in terms of match-fitness.

The talismanic Mooney came on for the second half, producing one memorable and fulminating shot, which was matched by a superb save, and one bad miss, which would probably have been dispatched but for the timing lost by months of inaction since he sustained his injury in September.

Foley, who seemed to be brought down from the attic to be propelled into this quality fixture, did well in the first half, forcing the United keeper to a couple of saves.

Towards the end, as United's talent found more room to develop and exploit weaknesses following the dismissals, Watford thought in terms of a disciplined approach, bringing on Gibbs to police Giggs in place of the flagging Cox.

That was understandable but while Johnson was being prepared to come on in place of the tiring Helguson, United scored, so leaving Watford with six minutes in which to try and retrieve something from an enjoyable afternoon. Wooter would have seemed a better option in those circumstances.

Much earlier, it was the quality of Watford's display which raised the expectations and the enthusiasm of the crowd, and this was further fuelled by the Hornets taking the lead.

United were unimpressive and, although Yorke's introduction at the interval did provide extra impetus, they did not create a clear-cut chance in the second half, until after Hyde and Butt had exchanged calling cards.

Despite the defensive failings, there were positive points. Darren Ward did well, as did David Perpetuini, who would appear to be settling in, but the undoubted success among the youthful triumvirate was Tommy Smith. He gave experienced defenders plenty of problems, looked confident in possession and not overawed. In addition, he took his goal superbly, capitalising on the 'dog-legging' Neville to beat the offside trap.

As for the action, United should have been ahead after six minutes when Butt went through and shot straight at Chamberlain after good work by Sheringham and Solskjaer. Van Der Gouw was more extended when he had to tip wide from an enterprising Foley shot, but, after Smith cut in past Berg, his shot failed to trouble the keeper.

Watford enjoyed a territorial edge to the first half, but the only further significant opening came when Giggs by-passed Robinson, but his low shot was stopped by Chamberlain.

Three minutes into the second half, Mooney came in on the blind side of Berg and, as he challenged, the ball fell loose. Mooney swung a leg at it but missed his connection and United survived a critical moment.

Greening and Giggs had shots but failed to find a way through and it was not until both sides were reduced to 10 men that the visitors broke through.

They duly equalised and then took the lead, but Watford went close to pulling back on terms when Mooney conjured a superb shot matched by Van Der Gouw's save.

Chamberlain saved to Giggs just a few minutes before United grabbed the winner.