Watford 1-3 Southampton: Danny Ings' double dents Hornets hopes

Danny Ings scored twice as Southampton piled the pressure on struggling Watford with a 3-1 victory at Vicarage Road on Sunday.

Ings registered his 20th goal of the season with a superb solo effort on 16 minutes and capitalised on Ben Foster's poor clearance with his 21st of the campaign 20 minutes from time.

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Watford were handed a lifeline on 79 minutes when Southampton defender Jan Bednarek put through his own net, but the Hornets' hopes were extinguished three minutes later by James Ward-Prowse's spectacular free-kick.

A club-record eighth top-flight away win of the season lifts Southampton up to 13th and sees Ralph Hasenhuttl's side reach the coveted 40-point mark, while Watford remain just a solitary point clear of the relegation zone in 16th having played a game more than West Ham and Bournemouth.

How Saints deepened Watford's troubles...

The hosts got off to a slow start and they were behind in the 16th minute when Ings opened the scoring in fine fashion.

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The in-form striker picked the ball up in the midfield before skipping past challenges and drilling the ball past Ben Foster and into the corner of the net to score his ninth goal on the road in his last 11 away Premier League starts.

Nathan Redmond then tested Foster from a 30-yard free-kick as Saints looked to extend their advantage but the goalkeeper, making his 100th consecutive Premier League start, was able to make a comfortable save.

Watford struggled to create anything of note in the first-half but captain Troy Deeney sent a long-range effort high over Alex McCarthy's goal as Nigel Pearson looked to get a response from his side.

But the hosts were punished further when Ings capitalised on Foster's mistake to double his side's lead.

Ings plucked the former England keeper's poor throw out of the air before bursting into the penalty area and picking out the far corner via a deflection off defender Craig Dawson.

Watford were handed a lifeline with just over 10 minutes left to play as Jose Holebas sent the ball in towards fellow substitute Danny Welbeck, and Saints defender Bednarek got there ahead of the striker to turn the ball into his own net.

However, less than three minutes later, Ward-Prowse whipped a stunning free-kick over the wall and into the net to make sure all three points went back to the south coast.

Man of the Match - Danny Ings

Sky Sports' Alan Smith: "All in Southampton shirts are at least an eight out of 10 but Ings has almost been a 10. He's been superb. No wonder he is smiling at the end of the game. He's tired but he's loved it out there. Everything he's done has shone with quality."

Only Jamie Vardy (19) has now scored more Premier League goals this season than the Southampton striker (18).

He has been directly involved in 12 goals in his last 11 away Premier League starts for Southampton (10 goals, two assists) - no player has more away Premier League goals this season than Ings' tally of 10.

And finally, he is the first Southampton player to reach double figures for goals away from home in a single Premier League season since Matt Le Tissier in 1993/94 (12).

Ings: Focus not on Golden Boot

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Speaking to Sky Sports after the game, Ings insisted his sights were not set on the Premier League's Golden Boot award after taking his tally to 18 for the season.

"To be honest, no," he said. "I just want to play as many games and score as many goals as I can for the team. I'm fortunate enough to be up and around it now and hopefully I can keep building on that and score some more.

"After the last game (defeat to Arsenal) we were very disappointed really and it was important we came here today and did something about that, and I thought the lads were fantastic."

What the managers said…

Watford boss Nigel Pearson: "We were second best for too long. We started the second half brightly, but you can't concede goals like that and give gifts to your opponents, it makes the job even harder.

"We've got to get back to doing what we've been very good at doing for long periods and that is to show a cohesion as a group of people, who can actually find the answers on the pitch. But at the moment it's frustrating because we're not achieving the types of performances that we know we're capable of doing.

"We have games left in which it's in our own hands to make sure that we assure our future in the Premier League. That's really what it's about. Nobody else is going to do it for us, we've got to do it ourselves."

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Southampton boss Ralph Hassenhuttl on Ings: "Nobody will deny how important a player he is for us. Everything is possible. We will play with him in the last six games, and if he gets a chance, you see how fantastic his finishing is. He seems to be fitter than ever, he was hard working in shutdown [lockdown] and that gives him now fantastic physical options. It's definitely a sort of outrageous quality he has and when we scores it is
fantastic."

On the performance, he said: "I think we did quite well from the first minute, we were very disciplined, (had) good organisation and (were) a hard-working team and we deserved to win."

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Opta stats - Record-breaking Saints win on the road again

• Southampton have won eight away league matches this season - the most they have ever won away from home in a top-flight campaign.
• Watford have won just one of their last 10 Premier League matches (W1 D3 L6), a 3-0 win over champions Liverpool in February.
• Watford goalkeeper Ben Foster made his 100th consecutive Premier League start, becoming the 19th player to do so. Aged 37 years and 86 days, he is the oldest player to achieve this feat (based on their age in the 100th consecutive start).
• Since the Premier League resumed this month, none of the teams currently in the bottom five of the league have won a game - from 13 games combined, those five teams have won just three points (P13 W0 D3 L10).
• Only Matt Le Tissier (7) has scored more direct free-kick goals for Southampton in the Premier League than James Ward-Prowse (6), who has scored one in both meetings with Watford this season.

What's next?

Live Premier League

Watford now go to Champions League-chasing Chelsea on Saturday, July 4 at 8pm, live on Sky Sports. Southampton host Manchester City on Sunday, July 5 at 7pm.

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