Southampton 0-2 Watford: Abdoulaye Doucoure and Daryl Janmaat strike as Hornets grab a comfortable win to move fourth in the Premier League table

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Some bright spark in Watford’s support has fitted Abdoulaye Doucoure’s name to the tune from funk band Earth, Wind and Fire’s 1978 hit ‘September’.

‘On and on… Abdoulaye Doucoure,’ it goes. ‘He never gives the ball away.’

It’s a catchy one and, having been belted out for many minutes by Watford’s travelling support here, will certainly be stuck in quite a few heads on Saturday evening.

Abdoulaye Doucoure scored the opening goal for Watford as his right-foot shot from outside the box beats Fraser Forster

Forster could not get close to Doucoure's shot as the hosts fell behind in the first half of the Premier League fixture

MATCH FACTS, PLAYER RATINGS, PREMIER LEAGUE TABLE AND MATCH ZONE 

 Southampton (4-2-3-1): Forster 5.5; Cedric 5.5, Stephens 6.5, Hoedt 6, Bertrand 6; Davis (c) 6, Romeu 6; Boufal 5.5 (Austin 71, 5), Ward-Prowse 5 (Tadic 46, 6), Redmond 6; Gabbiadini 5 (Long 69, 5)

Subs not used: McCarthy (GK); Yoshida, McQueen, Lamina

Manager: Mauricio Pellegrino 5

Watford (4-2-3-1): Gomes (c) 6; Femenia 6 (Janmaat 62, 7), Kabasele 6, Kaboul 6.5 (Mariappa 61, 6), Holebas 6.5; Doucoure 8, Chalobah 7.5; Carrillo 6.5, Cleverley 6.5, Richarlison 7; Gray 6 (Deeney 84)

Subs not used: Karnezis (GK); Success, Watson, Capoue

Manager: Marco Silva 7

Scorers: Doucoure 38; Janmaat 66

Referee: Lee Probert (Wiltshire) 7

Attendance: 31,435

Man of the match: Abdoulaye Doucoure (Watford) 

 

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Well, it turns out that not only does the Frenchman rarely give the ball away, he also strikes it pretty cleanly too.

His lovely right-footed strike after 38 minutes set Watford on their way to a comfortable victory over goal-shy Southampton, lifting the Hornets into the Premier League top four.

An equally well-struck goal by defender Daryl Janmaat in the second-half ensured Watford’s positive start under Marco Silva continued apace.

But problems mount for Southampton, who have now failed to score in nine of their last 12 Premier League matches. 

It’s a case of meet the new boss, same as the old boss when it comes to Mauricio Pellegrino, whose Saints team don’t appear to be any more effective in attack than Claude Puel’s.

Striker Manolo Gabbiadini spent 69 hopelessly-isolated minutes with no service and the Saints didn’t have a shot on target all match. Shane Long and Charlie Austin were introduced, but were no better. Nathan Redmond was subdued.

There was no Virgil van Dijk in the Southampton line-up either, with Pellegrino not prepared to risk a player lacking in match fitness following a summer of trying to leave the club.

Did it make any difference? No. If Southampton can’t muster more going forward than this, they’re in for a very long season indeed. The swathes of empty seats by the final whistle spoke volumes for their complete lack of enterprise. 

Watford goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes celebrated his side taking the lead at the St Mary's Stadium this Saturday 

Southampton winger Nathan Redmond tried to create chances for his side in a fruitless first half for the Saints 

The win means an impressive Watford now sit fourth in the league table after four games of the Premier League season

Pellegrino said: ‘They were always one second earlier than us and they scored two soft goals in my points of view that we have to avoid in the future.

‘I felt low energy in some players after the international break but it’s part of football and we have to push on.’

Both these teams had gone into the international break with goalless draws and the intervening fortnight hadn’t done anything to shake the ennui.

The first 35 minutes were a complete non-event, punctuated by passes sailing out of play, attacks halted by crunching tackles and barely any efforts on goal.

At least Watford tried to make a go of it, their patient build-up through midfield more pleasing on the eye than Southampton’s conservative, counter-attacking approach. 

Saint's manager Mauricio Pellegrino was frustrated to see his side fall behind at home against the Hornets 

 Nathaniel Chalobah caught the eye in an impressive Watford midfield which seemed to nullify all that Saints could produce

Charlie Austin (left) came on in the second half but he was unable to have much influence on Southampton going forward 

Watford’s midfield caught the eye, especially the all-action Nathaniel Chalobah, who pressed forward at every opportunity safe in the knowledge that Doucoure had things under control behind him.

Richarlison, the 20-year-old Brazilian signed from Fluminense, again showed that the Premier League holds no fear for him, attempting silky touches with abandon and withstanding some heavy-duty tackles from the Saints defence.

But it was Doucoure who’d break the deadlock. Jack Stephens could only half-clear a Jose Holebas throw-in and Kiko Femenia won a header so the ball popped up nicely for Doucoure about 22 yards from goal.

His strike was clean and powerful, beating Fraser Forster before he knew it was upon him.

Just after Doucoure’s goal, Richarlison drove in sharply from the left past Cedric and forced Forster into a sharp near-post save. An earlier goalbound effort had to be deflected wide by Stephens. 

Watford manager Marco Silva (left) shouted instructions to his players who defended superbly throughout the match 

Daryl Janmaat scored the Hornets' second goal with a crisp strike to push his side fourth in the Premier League table 

Forster could only watch Janmaat's well-timed shot fire past him as many Southampton fans headed for the exit 

New signing Richarlison continued his impressive start to the new season and frequently produced a spark for the visitors 

 Things could only get better in the second-half. There was a necessity for Southampton to overcome their shyness going forward, with Watford more than willing to exploit any space that was created. Chalobah found some room to test Forster within seconds of the restart.

Eventually, Southampton started to come forward, though Sofiane Boufal shot embarrassingly high over the bar. ‘We’ve had a shot,’ sung the home fans with lashings of irony.

It would get worse. Janmaat had just come on for the limping Femenia and surprised everyone by unleashing a 25-yard shot from Tom Cleverley’s pass. It kept low and beat Forster to find the bottom corner.

A delighted Silva said: ‘We really deserved the three points and we deserved the result. We had control of the match and we showed a lot of good moments with the ball.’

Manolo Gabbiadini (right) failed to inspire the Southampton forward line who have struggled for goals so far this season 

Redmond was left frustrated by his side's lack of creativity, a feature which typified Southampton's performance on Saturday 

Shane Long (left) was also introduced to add some spark to the hosts' attack but he was left to deal with scraps