Watford beats Rapid

February 11, 2016 01:23 pm | Updated 01:23 pm IST

They hardly made an impression on the opening night, but Harry Kewell’s boys came up with a vastly improved performance as Watford defeated Rapid Bucharest 2-0 in a Group-A match in the Mahindra & Mahindra Sait Nagjee Trophy international football tournament.

The win at the Corporation Stadium on Tuesday night also brightened the semifinal chances of the EPL club’s under-21 side.

For Rapid, which was guilty of rough play for the second successive game, an even tougher opponent, Brazil’s Atletico Paranaense, awaits it in its last match.

Watford, coached by Australia’s 2006 World Cup hero Kewell, had struggled against Paranaense, but looked more organised in its defence against Rapid.

It was, in fact, Rapid which seemed more likely to draw first blood, especially with Madalin Martin looking dangerous; he gave little indication then that he would collect the first red card of the tournament, for kicking Sean Murray late in the second half.

The first goal came against the run of play, as Watford scored in the 23rd minute. A well-taken corner kick by George Byers was met by a fine header by Bernard Mensah. But the ball was stopped, though not conclusively, by the Rapid ’keeper Paul Botas and Alex Jakubiak showed good presence of mind to slot the ball home from close in.

That happened not long after Watford had survived a big scare, when a combination of fine bit of goalkeeping, alert defence and good fortune saw Rapid failing to convert even one of the three chances it had got in succession.

George Tudoran, Cristian Raiciu and Iulian Popa all had reasons to feel disappointed at not having been able to put Rapid ahead.

The goal’s impact was evident as the Watford boys slowly began to wrest control from the Romanians, who came close to equalising twice, in the last five minutes of the opening half.

But, Madalin was denied on both those occasions by Luke Simpson, who had a memorable night under the bar for Watford and was named Man-of-the-Match.

Watford clinched the issue through another set-piece, in the 57th minute. This time, Byers’s corner-kick was neatly driven from inside the box by Mensah.

The result:

Watford 2 (Alex Jakubiak 23, Bernard Mensah 57) bt Rapid Bucharest 0.

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