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By Lorraine McKennaBBC Sport
Last updated on 16 minutes ago.From the section Premier League
De Gea twice saved Sarr's penalty attempts in the first halfMore misery was heaped on beleaguered Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer on Saturday as Watford sealed a deserved Premier League victory in front of a packed Vicarage Road.
In an electrifying first half, United were unable to deal with the high pressing of a well organised Hornets side and quickly found themselves in danger when Scott McTominay bundled forward Joshua King inside the box.
But United goalkeeper David de Gea came to the rescue as the Spaniard saved not one, but two Ismaila Sarr penalties. Each of the Senegal winger's efforts were tame but Kiko Femenia managed to turn in the rebound from the first spot-kick, only for the goal to ruled out because of player encroachment from both teams.
It was not long, however, before Sarr rectified his penalty misses by sending a right-footed shot across de Gea's goal to double Watford's lead after King had opened the scoring thanks to Emmanuel Dennis' assist.
A second-half uprising saw forgotten man Donny van de Beek - brought on to replace McTominay who received a yellow card - put the ball in the net from Cristiano Ronaldo's knock down following England winger Jadon Sancho's searching cross.
But the nightmare continued for Solskjaer as Harry Maguire was booked twice in seven minutes and sent off.
A slither of hope looked to have arrived on 77 minutes after the lively Van de Beek found Ronaldo with a through ball but the Portugal captain's goal was ruled out for offside.
In the dying moments of the game, to the delight of the loud Watford faithful, Joao Pedro and Dennis added a third and fourth for Watford to pile more heartbreak on the travelling United supporters.
The defeat means United have tumbled down the table to eighth on 17 points, while Claudio Ranieri's side are only four points behind them in 15th.
More to follow.
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Watford
Squad number1Player nameFoster
Squad number21Player nameKiko Femenía
Squad number15Player nameCathcart
Squad number13Player nameNkoulou
Squad number11Player nameMasina- Squad number19Player nameSissoko
- Squad number23Player nameSarr
- Squad number6Player nameLouza
Squad number8Player nameCleverley- Squad number25Player nameDennis
- Squad number7Player nameKing
- Squad number5Player nameTroost-Ekong
- Squad number10Player nameJoão Pedro
- Squad number29Player nameCucho Hernández
Manchester United
Squad number1Player namede Gea- Squad number29Player nameWan-Bissaka
Squad number2Player nameLindelöf- Squad number5Player nameMaguire
Squad number23Player nameShaw
Squad number39Player nameMcTominay
Squad number31Player nameMatic- Squad number25Player nameSancho
- Squad number18Player nameBruno Fernandes
Squad number10Player nameRashford- Squad number7Player nameCristiano Ronaldo
Squad number9Player nameMartial
Squad number14Player nameLingard
Squad number20Player nameDiogo Dalot- Squad number34Player namevan de Beek
Line-ups
Watford
Formation 4-1-4-1
- 1Foster
- 21Femenía
- 15Cathcart
- 13NkoulouSubstituted forTroost-Ekongat 64'minutes
- 11Masina
- 19Sissoko
- 23SarrSubstituted forHernández Suárezat 68'minutes
- 6LouzaBooked at 45minsSubstituted forJoão Pedroat 77'minutes
- 8Cleverley
- 25DennisBooked at 90mins
- 7King
Substitutes
- 2Ngakia
- 3Rose
- 5Troost-Ekong
- 10João Pedro
- 16Gosling
- 17Fletcher
- 18Tufan
- 26Bachmann
- 29Hernández Suárez
Man Utd
Formation 4-2-3-1
- 1de Gea
- 29Wan-Bissaka
- 2Lindelöf
- 5MaguireBooked at 69mins
- 23ShawSubstituted forDalotat 85'minutes
- 39McTominayBooked at 19minsSubstituted forvan de Beekat 45'minutes
- 31Matic
- 25SanchoSubstituted forLingardat 90+1'minutes
- 18Bruno Fernandes
- 10RashfordSubstituted forMartialat 45'minutes
- 7Cristiano Ronaldo
Substitutes
- 3Bailly
- 8Mata
- 9Martial
- 14Lingard
- 17Fred
- 20Dalot
- 22Heaton
- 27Telles
- 34van de Beek
Live Text
Match ends, Watford 4, Manchester United 1.
Second Half ends, Watford 4, Manchester United 1.
Emmanuel Dennis (Watford) is shown the yellow card for excessive celebration.
Goal! Watford 4, Manchester United 1. Emmanuel Dennis (Watford) right footed shot from the right side of the box to the bottom left corner. Assisted by Ben Foster.
Goal! Watford 3, Manchester United 1. João Pedro (Watford) right footed shot from a difficult angle on the right to the bottom right corner. Assisted by Emmanuel Dennis.
Attempt saved. João Pedro (Watford) right footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Cucho Hernández with a cross.
Substitution, Manchester United. Jesse Lingard replaces Jadon Sancho.
Attempt missed. João Pedro (Watford) right footed shot from outside the box misses to the left. Assisted by Cucho Hernández.
Corner, Watford. Conceded by Diogo Dalot.
Attempt missed. João Pedro (Watford) header from the right side of the six yard box is high and wide to the left. Assisted by Cucho Hernández with a cross following a corner.
Substitution, Manchester United. Diogo Dalot replaces Luke Shaw because of an injury.
Corner, Watford. Conceded by Luke Shaw.
Corner, Watford. Conceded by Aaron Wan-Bissaka.
Attempt missed. Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United) right footed shot from outside the box is too high. Assisted by Cristiano Ronaldo.
Offside, Manchester United. Donny van de Beek tries a through ball, but Cristiano Ronaldo is caught offside.
Substitution, Watford. João Pedro replaces Imran Louza.
Attempt missed. Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United) header from the centre of the box is just a bit too high. Assisted by Jadon Sancho with a cross.
Luke Shaw (Manchester United) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Tom Cleverley (Watford).
Attempt missed. Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United) right footed shot from the right side of the box is close, but misses to the right. Assisted by Donny van de Beek.
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