October 03, (THEWILL) – For another matchday that Nigeria’s Emmanuel Dennis failed to find the back of the net for his English Premier League side Watford, Leeds United held on to a 1-0 lead to earn their first victory of the season as Diego Llorente scored the game’s only goal in the first half.
Razor-sharp reactions from Llorente inside the box in the 18th minute earned the hosts their opening goal, after an in-swinging corner was cleared carelessly by Juraj Kucka and into the Leeds defender’s path. His early strike proved to be the game’s deciding factor.
Leeds dominated the game, dominating possession and peppering shots in the direction of Watford’s goal – even if few of them struck the target to test Ben Foster, in the Watford goal post.
The front three of Raphinha, Daniel James, and Rodrigo consistently put Watford on the back foot, while Mateusz Klich and Stuart Dallas from midfield helped them attack. When it mattered most, though, the all-important quality was usually missing.
Watford were mainly poor, and they did not do nearly enough to put Leeds under pressure. Dennis moved more central in the second half but was unable to make any telling impact. And, Ismaila Sarr, his strike partner, failed to do enough to get into the game.
And, although Nigeria’s William Troost-Ekong was arguably fortunate not to give away a penalty for his challenge on Daniel James, the visitors did, however, have the ball in the net at one point when Illan Meslier scored a clanger from a set piece. But, unfortunately, the goal was disallowed due to a foul on Leeds defender Liam Cooper.
Late in the game, Leeds came close to extending their advantage, with Watford’s Juraj Kucka clearing one off the line and Tyler Roberts magnificently putting the rebound onto the bar from an awkward angle.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
