Report and free match highlights from the Sky Bet Championship match between Hull City and Watford at the MKM Stadium as Ozan Tufan's penalty ended the Hornet's slim play-off hopes on Saturday afternoon.
Saturday 22 April 2023 18:05, UK
Watford's faint hopes of reaching the Sky Bet Championship play-offs suffered another jolt with a 1-0 defeat at Hull.
Ozan Tufan's 25th-minute penalty against his former club condemned Chris Wilder's side to a second consecutive defeat that now leaves them six points adrift of the top six.
Wilder can have no complaints as Watford lacked passion and energy, most notably in the first half, and rarely threatened Hull goalkeeper Karl Darlow.
And though Wilder's men pressed relatively hard for an equaliser after the interval, it never looked like coming.
Mid-table Hull have little to play for, but they were resolute and strong from the outset and deserved to win.
They were, however, second best in the early stages of the game as Watford were the more controlled side.
But the hosts soon warmed to the task as the first half developed, with Jean Michael Seri a growing influence through the middle of the park.
Indeed, Seri was a major presence in the decisive goal when he found Tufan in a pocket of space just outside the Watford penalty area.
Tufan passed to Harry Vaughan, whose cute back-heel from the edge of the box teed up Regan Slater on the left.
Slater jinked inside the area and was upended by Ryan Andrews, with Tufan smashing home the resulting spot-kick into the bottom-left corner.
Watford's response was uninspiring, but they were nearly gifted an equaliser four minutes later.
A hopeful, and arguably hopeless, ball from the back was not dealt with by centre-back Sean McLoughlin, who made an awful mess of what should have been a routine header to safety.
Joao Pedro was through on goal, but an onrushing Darlow and poor judgement from the Watford captain saw the ball sail over the crossbar.
Wilder will have been partially impressed by Watford's response in the second half as they at least showed a modicum of spirit.
A sustained spell of pressure also led to what might have been a valid claim for a penalty after 63 minutes when Seri was alleged to have handled the ball off a dangerous cross.
Referee Oliver Langford instead waved play on, much to the frustration of Wilder and his players.
Visiting fans might have anticipated a stirring revival thereafter, but, if anything, Hull looked the greater threat on the counter-attack.
That was until the 84th minute when another aimless ball into the Hull penalty area was this time misjudged by Jacob Greaves.
Ismaila Sarr tried to flick the ball over Darlow, but the on-loan Newcastle goalkeeper brilliantly anticipated the danger by pawing the ball away for a corner.
That was as good as it got for Watford, who will have much to consider on the long journey back home.
Hull's Liam Rosenior:
"We weren't at our free-flowing best, but what I was delighted with was a seventh clean sheet in eight. You need two sides to the game to be successful in the Championship: you need to play and you need to grind it out.
"I couldn't be happier with the attitude of the players. It's a real challenge to play three games in a week and for them, pretty much with the same team, to win a tough game like this means the world."
Watford's Chris Wilder:
"That was a typical Championship game and I thought we deserved something from it. I thought we did what we could to try to get into the game and I thought the attitude was good. I was honest with them after the game and I told them that I thought we deserved something from it.
"I had no complaints with the penalty decision. When it's not going for you, these things happen. We just needed a big moment and it didn't come."
