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| Saido Berahino was unable to influence the match |
THE workmen were still laying carpets and the big screen at the corner of the Graham Taylor Stand wasn’t working.
But while the new-look Vicarage Road might not have been totally prepared for its first Premier League game in more than eight years, you certainly couldn’t accuse Watford boss Quique Flores of not having his team ready for their return home.
And in tricky Spanish winger Jose Manuel Jurado, he’s signed someone who will light up the top flight.
He was Watford’s biggest danger, his darting runs giving Gareth McAuley an uncomfortable time.
The Spaniard cut in to lay off a chance for Troy Deeney and curled a 25-yard free-kick only a couple of feet wide.
Despite Jurado’s trickery, the Baggies did what they came to do, keeping a clean sheet, restricting prolific pair Deeney and Odion Ighalo to long-range efforts.
When Ighalo did get into the box to a Deeney knockdown, his goal-bound shot was hacked off the line.
West Brom manager Tony Pulis had seen enough and decided it was time to unveil record signing Salomon Rondon just after the hour.
The £12 million Venezuelan striker almost made a dream start, cutting inside but shooting wildly over the top.
And West Brom should have pulled off an 81st minute smash-and-grab when Saido Berahino missed a point-blank header.
Flores said: “We played well and we are happy with the performance. It’s like a party for me because I enjoy football and I come to work every day with emotion.”
Pulis said: “Watford didn’t surprise me but they surprised our players and they were the better team.”
WATFORD: Gomes; Nyom, Prodl, Cathcart, Anya; Layun (Abdi (65th), Capoue, Behrami, Jurado (Berhuis (82nd); Ighalo, Deeney
WEST BROM: Myhill; Dawson, McAuley, Olsson, Brunt; Morrison, Fletcher, Yacob, Gardner (Rondon (61st); Lambert (McClean (69th), Berahino (McManaman (89th)
MAN of the MATCH: Jose Manuel Jurado – The Baggies must have breathed a sigh of relief when the tricky Spanish winger was subbed near the end.
Ref: P Tierney Att: 20,011
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