A late goal from Juan Mata earned Manchester United a 1-0 victory from their home clash with Watford this evening.
The visiting Hornets and in particular Odion Ighalo spurned a number of chances over the course of the 90 minutes.
However, there was no such problem for Mata seven minutes from time when he curled the ball in from 20 yards out to seal the win.
Find out how the match unfolded with Sports Mole's text updates.
Evening all. So, we had five Premier League games last night and another five this evening - it certainly keeps up occupied! Here, our focus will be on Manchester United's home clash with Watford. These are two sides in decent form, so lets hope it will be reflected in the quality out on the pitch.
First of all, the starting lineups...
TEAM NEWS:
Man United: De Gea; Varela, Blind, Fosu-Mensah, Rojo; Schneiderlin, Herrera; Martial, Mata, Memphis; Rashford
Subs: Romero, McNair, Darmian, Riley, Lingard, Rothwell, Weir
Watford: Gomes; Nyom, Britos, Prodl, Holebas; Capoue, Watson, Behrami; Abdi, Deeney; Ighalo
Subs: Pantilimon, Cathcart, Paredes, Ake, Suarez, Anya, Amrabat
Louis van Gaal loves dishing out a debut, doesn't he?! Yet another youngster - this time it's Timothy Fosu-Mensah - makes his first start for United. The centre-back came on as a substitute against Arsenal at the weekend, but now he's been thrown in from the start at the expense of Michael Carrick, who drops out the squad. Anthony Martial is back, but he has not replaced man of the moment Marcus Rashford. The 18-year-old, who has scored four goals in two games, keeps his place up front and Martial will slot in wide left. Jesse Lingard has made way, but is included on the bench.
And there is also another potential debutant among the substitutes.
As for Watford, head coach Quique Sanchez Flores said yesterday that he would freshen things up and he has been true to his word. It's four changes in total as Allan Nyom, Sebastian Prodl, Joel Holebas and Almen Abdi all come into the side. The players that have dropped out are Juan Carlos Paredes, Craig Cathcart, Nathan Ake and Nordin Amrabat.
One final thing about those teams - the seven players on the United bench are worth a combined £12m and six of them cost nothing! Summer signing Matteo Darmian is the only one the Red Devils paid for, while goalkeeper Sergio Romero joined on a free transfer. The other five are academy products.
Of course, much of the focus tonight is going to be on a certain young United striker. Not many people had heard of Marcus Rashford a week ago, but they certainly know his name now! The four goals understandably have grabbed the headlines, but he's also shown good awareness and movement off the ball for one so young. He certainly has a bright future ahead of him.
There is a danger that such large attention could go to a player's head, but Van Gaal has insisted that Rashford has a wise head on young shoulders:
"Give him the time to be 18 years old and we shall guide him also in that way. He's a very modest guy, so I don't think that will be a problem, but when you have so much attention from the media it can go another way, but I believe he shall keep his feet on the ground."
While Rashford is riding the crest of a wave, in the Watford attack Odion Ighalo has struggled for goals in recent weeks. He remains their leading scorer with an impressive return of 15 this term, but none have come in his last five outings. In fact, just two of those goals have been scored in 2016. Old Trafford wouldn't be a bad place to rediscover the clinical touch, would it?!
PODCAST! We still have 30 minutes to go until proceedings get underway, so why not use that time wisely by giving the eighth edition of 'The Dugout' a listen? You know you want to!
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Back at Old Trafford, Van Gaal has been explaining the reasoning behind his team selection:
"Michael Carrick was rested because he has played two matches in a row and he is not the youngest so we don't take risks with him. Chris Smalling was not ready yet so it was too early and we don't take any risk also. I have faith in Timothy."
Watford boss Flores has also been speaking to the TV cameras. His side are hunting for a first victory ever in the league at Old Trafford:
"It's a great opportunity for us to play in this amazing stadium and do something amazing for Watford's history. We need to play with focus and high concentration because they're a very good team."
Someone that will not be playing tonight is United's former Watford winger Ashley Young, who is ruled out with injury:
STAT! If Van Gaal is to lose his job in the summer, it seems that he is at least going to play some entertaining football. Youngsters always help with that:
So, what does a victory mean to these two sides? For United, they simply cannot afford to drop many more points if they are to finish in the top four. Rivals City, who currently occupy fourth spot, are three points ahead of United with a game in hand. As for Watford, while there is no danger of them going down following a great campaign so far, they no doubt would love to get to that 40-point mark as soon as possible. A win tonight would see them achieve that feat.
PREDICTION: What's going to happen in this game then? It's actually a tough one to call, but I fancy United to just edge it. Let's go for 2-1, with Rashford to keep up his positive start to life in the first team by notching again.
The players are now heading out of the tunnel and on to the pitch. We'll be off and running at Old Trafford shortly...
KICKOFF! United's Spanish duo of Mata and Herrera get this game started. Big 90 minutes ahead.
Watford will be pleased with the start that they have made here. They've already won a free kick in a good position and a corner. They didn't come to anything, but it's a sign of intent nonetheless.
The first real attack of the night from United sees Blind whip in a dangerous cross. There is not much pressure on Holebas, but he seems to panic and diverts the ball towards his own goal. Fortunately for the visitors, Gomes is alert and mops up the danger with minimal fuss.
CHANCE! A decent opening for the returning Martial, who probably should do better. If he nods the ball across goal it seemed certain that he would be celebrating putting United in front. Instead, the French striker goes for the near post and can only find the side netting.
Watford force another corner but again it's a poor delivery from Watson. This time he overhits his cross and the ball evades everyone. United have been poor defending set pieces of late, so the lack of quality in those situations is bound to be frustrating Flores.
United winger Depay has been in good form recently, but he'll want to forget this shot. His effort from 25 yards did not even go for a goal kick, it rolled out for a throw!
CHANCE! Careless from United centre-back Blind, who gifts possession straight to Ighalo. The Watford frontman tries to catch De Gea out with an early strike, but the United goalkeeper is alert and dives on the ball.
CHANCE! Meanwhile, up the other end, Schneiderlin has gone ever so close to scoring a Goal of the Month contender. The French midfielder connects perfectly with his volley on the edge of the box. Gomes is left flailing at thin air, but the ball just flies off target. That's lifted the home fans.
Is it going to be one of those nights for Depay? He's just had another shot and while this one at least went out for a goal kick, it was closer to the corner flag than the target.
BOOKING! Fosu-Mensah has put in some well-timed challenges tonight, but this one was not so clever. Capoue gets the wrong side of the youngster, who brings down the Watford midfielder and is rightly cautioned.
CHANCE! It's the closest we've had to a goal and it's the Watford players that have their heads in their hands. The lively Ighalo wriggles free of Rojo, turns and then shoots almost all in one motion. De Gea is helplessly rooted to the spot, but he's granted a reprieve as the Nigerian fires just wide.
For those of you wondering how Rashford is faring, he's had very little supply in truth. To his credit he's working extremely hard and has forced the Watford defenders to make a number of hurried clearances. But, in terms of attacking play, his involvement has been limited.
MATCH ACTION! Here's a shot of United's Martial and Watford defender Holebas battling for possession.
SAVE! How many times has De Gea come to United's rescue? Countless times! It's lax defending from the home team that allows Ighalo to race clear. Fosu-Mensah tries to get back at the striker, but he is still able to get his shot away. The travelling fans think that he has scored, only for De Gea to turn the ball behind for a corner with his leg.
SAVE! De Gea saves the day again! It's awful from Varela, who doesn't look and simply passes the ball back towards the United keeper. Ighalo intercepts it, but he is denied by the Spanish custodian.
There will be one minute of stoppage time at the end of the first half.
HALF TIME: MAN UNITED 0-0 WATFORD There goes the whistle for the break and it's Watford that will head back to the dressing rooms feeling disappointed that they are not in front.
There goes the whistle for the break and it's Watford that will head back to the dressing rooms feeling disappointed that they are not in front.
So, after a brief flirtation with free-flowing attacking football, it seems that normal service has been resumed by United under Van Gaal's management. There have been too many backwards and sideways passes, with Rashford cutting a lonely figure up front. It's all been rather sterile. Having said that, it's not been so boring in a defensive sense because they look like conceding every time that Watford venture forward. There's work to be done by Van Gaal during the break, that's for sure.
The only criticism you have can have of Watford's first-half display is that they aren't at least one goal to the good. Flores - not for the first time this season - has got his game-plan spot on. The Hornets are allowing United to have possession, but when a pass goes astray the visitors pounce with pace. Had Ighalo been in form heading into this game, you'd have fancied him to have found the net by now, in spite of De Gea's heroics.
MATCH ACTION: Here's another shot of the encounter as United's Herrera slides in on Behrami.
RESTART! Visiting Watford gets proceedings back underway.
CHANCE! More of the same from Watford, who have started the second half on the front foot. Capoue's shot from distance has De Gea worried, but it ends up flying just over the crossbar.
Rashford is finally involved in the penalty area, it's just a shame for him that it was his own! Prodl flicks the ball from a corner goalwards which United's young striker heads clear.
CHANCE! What does Ighalo have to do to score here? The Watford frontman does ever so well to fashion out a chance for himself, but from a narrow angle he fires wide of the far post. It's been a very frustrating night for the Nigerian striker.
SAVE! Much better from United as Herrera sets the tempo. It's his pass that picks out Mata on the edge of the box and he instantly goes for goal. Gomes does well to punch it clear, yet it's a sign of intent from the hosts that has been badly lacking tonight.
Elsewhere, it's worth noting that Arsenal, Spurs and Man City are all losing right now. They are all above United in the table, so it goes to show just how important the three points are for the hosts.
CHANCE! Now United start to move through the gears and not before time! First Rashford gets to the byline and drills in a dangerous cross. Unfortunately for the youngster there is nobody on the end of it. Then, moments later Mata is in a similar situation and fires wide. It's lifted the atmosphere inside the ground.
WATFORD SUB: First change of the night for Watford sees Abdi trudge off and Suarez come on in his place.
MAN UNITED SUB: And now United act as Darmian comes on at left-back for Rojo.
WATFORD SUB: It's substitutions galore at the moment, with Ighalo now coming off for Watford. The hapless frontman has been replaced by Amrabat.
MAN UNITED SUB: No action to talk of, but there's been another switch for United. Lingard is on and Herrera comes off.
CHANCE! You can close the book for the award of Miss of the Season because it's just been won by Watford's Prodl. United fail to clear a Watson corner and the Austrian defender is just two yards out when he makes contract, but somehow he heads wide of the target. It looked harder to miss than score!
BOOKING! Up the other end Watford's Britos gets his name taken down for a professional foul on Martial. He can have no complaints with that one.
GOAL! MAN UNITED 1-0 WATFORD (MATA)
They don't deserve it, but United lead and what a big goal this could turn out to be when it comes to finishing in the top four. After Martial is fouled, Mata lines up the free kick which he sends over the wall and out of Gomes's reach. That's fantastic from the Spaniard, who is United's skipper for the night. Can Watford respond? They deserve at least a point.
MAN UNITED SUB: Off goes the goalscorer and potential match-winner Mata, who passes the captain's armband over to De Gea. McNair takes his place.
There will be four minutes of time added on at the end of this game. Can United hold on?
FULL TIME: MAN UNITED 1-0 WATFORD
There goes the final whistle and although it was not a vintage United performance by any means, the most important thing is the three points. They are now level on points with rivals City in fourth place. Watford will be understandably frustrated, but that's what happens when you don't take your chances.
That is all we have time for from Old Trafford. Thanks for joining Sports Mole's coverage this evening and until next time, goodbye.
