Aston Villa 2-3 Watford: Hutton dressed as sham

Matt Stead

Alan Hutton scored an agonising own goal as Aston Villa slipped to a demoralising 3-2 home defeat to Watford.

Watford took the lead through shambolic defending from the home side in the 17th minute, with Odion Ighalo stabbing home after Ben Watson’s deflected effort left him unmarked eight yards out.

Just over 20 minutes later and Villa were level, with Micah Richards powering home a header just before half time.

Villa started the second half brightly, but were undone when a slick passing move from Watford culminated in Hutton stabbing past Brad Guzan into his own goal.

Troy Deeney then doubled Watford’s lead with a well-taken header, only for Jordan Ayew to spark hopes of a comeback with minutes of normal time remaining.

Villa could not find a third however, and the defeat means they remain without a win in the Premier League since the opening day of the season and they stay bottom of the table.

Remi Garde’s side started brightly and Ayew’s shot from the right side of the area was blocked by Heurelho Gomes following a positive driving run and through ball from Richards.

A sustained spell of pressure followed from the home team but it was Watford who went ahead after 17 minutes as Ighalo pounced and slotted past Guzan after Watson’s shot rebounded off Ciaran Clark and the ball dropped nicely into his path.

Villa should have been level quickly but Ayew dragged his shot wide from six yards out.

Guzan then rushed out to spread himself to deny Etienne Capoue after he was put through by a brilliantly-weighted Deeney pass.

The home crowd began to get on their team’s back as Villa, whose effort was obvious, were simply frustrated by their lack of cutting edge in the final third.

The response to falling behind was good though and Idrissa Gana had Gomes scrambling across his goal with a curling effort from 25 yards that was inches away from nestling in the bottom corner of the net.

Either side of the half-hour mark the Watford goalkeeper then had to beat away a stinging drive from Ayew and help Scott Sinclair’s shot over the crossbar.

Villa deservedly equalised four minutes before half-time when Richards got a run on Craig Cathcart to emphatically head home Jordan Veretout’s free-kick.

The hosts survived a couple of scares inside their own penalty area early in the second half before the game was stopped for almost 10 minutes following an injury to Gomes, who collided with Cathcart when trying to cut out a low Hutton cross.

The Brazilian received treatment for a lengthy spell before being fitted with a neck brace and carried from the pitch on a stretcher. Giedrius Arlauskis, who played for Lithuania against England in last month’s European Championship qualifier, came on for his Premier League debut.

When the game restarted, Watford caught Villa cold and immediately went back in front. Deeney tried to find Ighalo but Hutton got a boot to the ball and diverted it past Guzan.

Deeney’s header looped past Guzan to stretch the lead to 3-1 before Ayew controlled neatly, turned and curled a lovely shot into the bottom corner of the net in the 89th minute.

But it was too little, too late and Watford comfortably negotiated injury time to earn their first win at Villa Park in nine visits since their last success at the ground in 1969.