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Bournemouth 0 Watford 2: Marco Silva’s side pick off Cherries with ease
Watford followed up their impressive opening-day display against Liverpool with a deserved win at Bournemouth after late goals from Richarlison and Etienne Capoue gave Marco Silva three points that he declared were “really deserved”.
After an even first hour, Watford began to apply more pressure to a disjointed Bournemouth and Brazil under-20 forward Richarlison scored at the second time of asking after Adam Smith had blocked his first effort.
The former Fluminense forward showed plenty of class down the left side and combined well with Andre Gray in the final half-hour.
“I’m very happy with the boy,” said Silva of Richarlison. “He’s a talent, but he’s also a player who comes every day to work hard. He doesn’t say one word in English. We need to be calm with him. It’s his first time in Europe.”
Fellow new signing Nathaniel Chalobah also impressed in midfield, though he was guilty of missing three chances to put the Hornets in front earlier on.
Eddie Howe was frustrated with his side’s lack of tempo in their opening-day defeat at West Brom, but there was little improvement against a Watford side who matched the Cherries for intensity.
“My position now is not to panic, but we’ve got to be better than that,” said Howe. “We were below our normal standards the whole game, really. It’s incredibly frustrating.”
Richarlison, signed for £11.2 million, will have excited the travelling support, showing a glimpse of his talent early on as he lobbed the ball over Smith before nutmegging him immediately after.
Watford were made to wait for their moment of triumph, as Chalobah and Gray combined for Richarlison.
Capoue then came off the bench to put the result beyond doubt with a wonderful finish into the bottom left corner from 25 yards after he headed down Andrew Surman’s headed clearance.