Watford 3-2 Cardiff: Hornets hold off fightback to edge thriller

Watford ended a run of six games without a Premier League win with a 3-2 victory against Cardiff in an entertaining contest at Vicarage Road.

In torrential conditions, the hosts raced into a deserved 3-0 lead courtesy of brilliant goals from Gerard Deulofeu (16), Jose Holebas (52) and Domingos Quina (68).

Cardiff pulled a goal back with 10 minutes remaining through another stunning strike from Junior Hoilett and, two minutes later, Bobby Reid poked in a second to set up a nervy finish.

But Javi Gracia's side held on to move up to 10th in the Premier League as Cardiff slip to 16th - still four points above the relegation zone.

Deulofeu was the game's stand-out performer, and the former Everton and Barcelona winger might have broken the deadlock before he eventually did, with his curled shot after six minutes just bending wide of the post.

Cardiff were bidding to win consecutive top-flight games for the first time since 1962, but they fell behind when Deulofeu picked up Abdoulaye Doucoure's pass, ran between Bruno Ecuele Manga and Sean Morrison before tucking his low shot to the left of Neil Etheridge.

Cardiff offered very little as an attacking threat in the opening 45 minutes, and they were fortunate not to trail by more at the interval, with Roberto Pereyra's free-kick in stoppage time tipped around the post by the busy Etheridge.

Watford still have not lost three top-flight home games in a row since April 1988, and the hosts deservedly doubled their lead seven minutes after the re-start as Deulofeu turned provider for Holebas to curl in his third goal of the season from the edge of the area.

Watford by now were playing full of confidence, and Quina underlined their dominance by stretching the lead 16 minutes later as he received Ken Sema's pass before bending his shot high to the right of Etheridge, much to the delight of the home supporters.

There appeared little sign of life in Cardiff, but Hoilett restored hope in the 80th minute when he cut inside Doucoure and bent an unstoppable shot beyond Foster - a finish that was reminiscent of his goal against Wolves a fortnight ago.

Two minutes later, the visitors halved the arrears as Reid pounced on a loose ball to stab his shot beyond Foster, but a point would have severely flattered Cardiff and Watford weathered the storm to return to winning ways.

The managers

Javi Gracia: "I'm proud of my players in all the games we've played before. Always my players play with great commitment and today was no different.

"We played in very bad weather, and Cardiff are a team who always win a lot of challenges, a lot of second balls so it's not easy to play against them. Today, I'm very pleased."

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Neil Warnock: "I think Troy (Deeney) should've been booked for the challenge on our goalkeeper. If that had been down the other end, there would've been five or six lads surrounding the referee.

"I thought he could've pulled out and the studs went up, but we've got an inexperienced referee (Andrew Madley), the first game he's had in the Premier League (this season), we've got Andre Marriner stood at the side of me. I think it's a disgrace.

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"Why should we be an experiment? Is it just because it's Cardiff City? I don't accept that, I think it's poor today. I think an experienced ref would've done something about the challenge."

Opta stats

• This was Watford's first win in seven Premier League games (D2 L4), since beating Huddersfield 3-0 in October.
• Cardiff scored twice in an away Premier League game for the first time this season, last doing so in March 2014 vs West Brom (3-3).
• Watford (2) vs Cardiff (1) was the first Premier League match to see three goals scored from outside the box this season.
• At 19 years and 27 days, Domingos Quina became Watford's youngest-ever Premier League goalscorer.
• Abdoulaye Doucoure registered his fifth Premier League assist this season - only Troy Deeney in 2015-16 (7) has provided more for Watford in a single campaign.
• Watford's Jose Holebas has been directly involved in more goals than any other Premier League defender this season (7 - 3 goals, 4 assists).
• Cardiff's Junior Hoilett has scored two goals in his last four Premier League games - more than he'd managed in his previous 61 in the competition (1).

Man of the match - Gerard Deulofeu

This was a vibrant attacking display from the Hornets, and Deulofeu was right at the heart of everything creative from Gracia's side.

Etheridge won his duel with Roberto Pereya, making three fine saves to deny the Argentine, but he came out second best to Deulofeu, whose opening goal set the standards for what followed.

The former Everton winger blows hot and cold, but in blustery conditions he thrived, providing the assist for Holebas' second to vindicate Gracia's decision to recall him to the starting line-up.

It was the first time Deulofeu both scored and assisted in the same Premier League game for Watford, last doing so in November 2015 for Everton against Sunderland.

What's next?

Watford travel to face West Ham at the London Stadium in the Premier League next Saturday at 3pm, while Cardiff host Manchester United later that day at 5.30pm.

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