Huddersfield Town 2-0 Watford: Ben Foster & Etienne Capoue errors cost Hornets
- Published
Watford's Etienne Capoue (left) hacked a corner into his own goal
Huddersfield capitalised on first-half mistakes by former England goalkeeper Ben Foster and Etienne Capoue to beat Watford.
Foster was caught dallying on a backpass and saw his kick closed down by Isaac Mbenza, with the ball falling to Fraizer Campbell to roll in for the hosts.
James Garner, Tom Cleverley and Andre Gray all went close for Watford before midfielder Capoue shanked a clearance from a corner into his own goal to give them an uphill task.
Vladimir Ivic's visitors looked threatening in the second half, but found Terriers keeper Ryan Schofield in inspired form as he twice made fantastic saves to thwart Gray.
Watford have only scored four goals in 10 away league games and slip to fifth in the table, four points behind second-placed Bournemouth, while Huddersfield rise to 12th after a fourth straight home win.
The away side's best chance came while they were 1-0 down, with Garner somehow failing to score from just a few yards out as Schofield made a crucial block to keep the Terriers in front.
Despite scoring in Watford's past three games captain Troy Deeney was rested at The John Smith's Stadium, with Ivic saying the veteran did not come off the bench because of a "discipline issue".
Former Tottenham man Capoue was under little pressure when he inexplicably miscued Mbenza's corner past Foster, as Watford were uncharacteristically generous in defence - having only conceded four times in their previous nine Championship matches on the road.
The Hornets have never kept a clean sheet in a league fixture at Huddersfield, conceding 25 goals across their 15 visits, and Carlos Corberan's side were able to rely on 21-year-old Schofield for a fourth clean sheet in five as they chose defence over attack after the break.
Huddersfield head coach Carlos Corberan told BBC Radio Leeds:
"It was not easy to face this game, especially knowing Watford have a strong squad and they played one day before we played Coventry, so they had 24 hours' more recovery.
"The players started with a level of energy and determination, being brave and controlling the ball. The moment we scored the two goals, we had to control the game more, defending the spaces.
"We put the line higher and started to wait a little bit more and Watford came looking for us but the effort these lads put in over 90 minutes, it was impossible for them to take something positive from today."
Watford boss Vladimir Ivic told BBC Three Counties Radio:
"It was a disappointing result and performance from the first 15-20 minutes because we created problems for ourselves with these two mistakes that we did.
"The second half we were dominant - we were the team who tried to change the result, to come back into the game.
"I can be pleased for performances in the second half from the players because they gave their maximum and they were fighting to try to change the score."
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