Watford 1-1 Stoke City: Vakoun Bayo sent off as Hornets held by Potters
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Watford's Vakoun Bayo was shown a red card seven minutes into the second half against Stoke
Watford had to settle for a point in their final game of 2023 after Vakoun Bayo was sent off against Stoke City at Vicarage Road.
Jake Livermore gave the Hornets the lead from close range with his first goal for the club, but Ryan Mmaee turned his marker before firing home the equaliser.
Giorgi Chakvetadze hit the Stoke bar in the opening exchanges of the second half, but Ivory Coast forward Bayo then saw red following a tangle with Luke McNally, which saw both players end up on the floor.
The visitors sensed a fourth away win of the season but could not make their man advantage count as goalkeeper Ben Hamer crowded out Bae Junho in a one-on-one and also made an excellent fingertip save to deny Mmaee his second.
Watford remain 10th in the table, four points outside the play-off spots, with Stoke slipping a place to 19th, but seven clear of the bottom three.
Hornets boss Valerien Ismael responded to the 4-1 Boxing Day home defeat by Bristol City with six changes, one of them enforced with Ken Sema unavailable because of injury, as midfielder Chakvetadze made his first home league start.
They had the upper hand in the opening half after Livermore turned the ball home after Ryan Porteous headed down Chakvetadze's corner.
Jake Livermore's goal was his first in a league game since scoring for West Brom in October 2022
Matheus Martins failed to reach Yaser Asprilla's dangerous ball into the box and the latter then fired straight at Stoke keeper Jack Bonham while, at the other end, Wouter Burger was unable to force the ball home after Hamer failed to gather Jordan Thompson's cross from the left.
The Potters levelled, however, when Sead Haksabanovic's cross from the left eluded the home defence and Mmaee found the corner for his fourth goal of the season.
Watford began the second half brightly and only Bonham's athletic leap to touch Chakvetadze's curling effort on to the bar kept the scores level.
Martins was just too high from another shooting opportunity but the pattern of the match changed following Bayo's departure as the home side were forced to change shape, with Mileta Rajovic sent on as an orthodox front man.
He fired over from Edo Kayembe's pass, in between the two fine saves from Hamer from Junho and Mmaee, and Wesley then headed wide for Stoke from Lewis Baker's cross before Haksabanovic was just too high with the final chance of the game.
Next up for Watford is a trip to managerless Plymouth Argyle on New Year's Day, with Stoke - now unbeaten in three under new manager Steven Schumacher - at home to second-placed Ipswich Town.
Watford head coach Valerien Ismael told BBC Three Counties Radio:
"Just before the red card, there was a clear foul on [Vakoun] Bayo, everyone saw that in the stands and on the sidelines.
"I am proud of the players, we stayed calm and controlled our emotions, didn't make it worse.
"We created a lot of chances, there was good energy, the boys who came in that didn't play for a long time did their jobs perfectly - James Morris was unbelievable.
"[Giorgi] Chakvetadze has all the qualities to make a difference, he can be a key player for us. He was a little disappointed not to be playing a lot but I said we had a lot of games and his chance would come, and it just shows how good our squad is."
Stoke boss Steven Schumacher told BBC Radio Stoke:
"I have mixed emotions really, we played some good stuff at times and showed some character from going 1-0 down.
"We're disappointed to concede from a set play, we should have dealt with that better, but responded really well and got back into the game with a lovely goal.
"With the sending off, I thought 'ok, let's step on the gas' and try to get the winner but unfortunately we didn't have enough quality to break them down.
"It's the third game in six or seven days and there was a lack of energy at times, but we've come away to a really difficult place and any point away from home is decent in this league."