Burnley's first win of the season, and their first away from home since February, sent Watford fans into open revolt as the Clarets cruised home 4-0 at Vicarage Road. While Alessio Dionisi's fifth defeat in six games cranked up the pressure on the Hornets head coach, counterpart Nicky Hayen's first three-point haul lifted Burnley off the Championship seabed. Three goals in the space of 12 first-half minutes put the visitors out of sight and extended the Hornets' wretched defensive record to 29 weeks without a clean sheet.
When Stoke won 2-1 at Vicarage Road last month, it ended 251 days without a win on the road for the Potters. Here, Watford extended more charity to the Clarets, who ended 241 days without an away win comfortably. On the day Watford paid tribute to former goalkeeper and two-time player of the season Kevin Miller, who died suddenly aged 57 last month, Dionisi needed a lift after an injury-ravaged start to the season.
But his mood soon darkened after just 13 minutes as Burnley scored from their first meaningful excursion into the box, Reo Hatate feeding Jacob Bruun Larsen to sweep home his first goal in 39 appearances for the club. Six minutes later, Larsen was close to adding a second, as Watford keeper Federico Ravaglia brilliantly parried his fierce effort, but Zeki Amdouni was first to react and bundled home his third goal of the season to double Burnley's advantage. Worse was to follow for the home side as Hatate was afforded generous space to pick his spot from 15 yards and make it 3-0 after 25 minutes.
The defensive meltdown was too much for the irate Watford supporters, with loud refrains of 'Sack the board' and chants against owner Gino Pozzo amid the pockets of booing. When these sides last met 18 months ago, the Hornets finished with nine men after Moussa Sissoko and Edo Kayembe were sent off in a fractious contest, but this one was effectively decided inside the opening half-hour. Dionisi's decision to withdraw Spanish playmaker Iker Bravo was howled down by his own supporters, and although Watford went through the motions of a fightback after the break, they never threatened to reverse the damage.
Mamadou Doumbia's header was parried by Gregoire Coudert and the Mali International should have done better from another opportunity. At the other end, Ravaglia did well to keep out Clarets substitute Marcus Edwards' free-kick, but three minutes from the end the unmarked Edwards rifled home a superb volley to complete Watford's miserable afternoon. On Watford's latest official club podcast, executive chairman Scott Duxbury warned: "This year, no excuses, we've got to achieve our potential and have a successful season.
I'm not setting any parameters at this stage but we've got players here who demand it." Play Super 6 for a chance to win £250k!
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