Watford 2-1 Crystal Palace: Roberto Pereyra, Jose Holebas Seal Third Straight Win
Watford continued their 100% start to the season, joining Liverpool at the top of the table on nine points, after goals from Roberto Pereyra and Jose Holebas were enough to secure a 2-1 win over Crystal Palace.
The early stages of this one served as a reminder that it was, in fact, a London derby, with Wilfried Zaha in particular getting some special treatment. Palace dominated much of the first half without being able to find a way through a rigid Watford defence and a fantastic Ben Foster.
The second half was another story, as Watford came out of the tunnel like a hornet out of hell and went ahead through a terrific strike from Pereyra. The hosts lead was then doubled by a freak effort by Jose Holebas.
Palace pulled one back through Zaha with 15 to go, but it proved futile, as Watford saw it out to take all three points.
Despite a poor first half display, Watford showed once again that they have the fortitude, as well as the ingredients, to be a good Premier League side who should be in no danger at the bottom of the table.
They dug in and defended well when they had to, and while not everyone was at their best, they were able to kick their performance up a gear or two in the second half, and in Roberto Pereyra they had the clinical quality required to punish Crystal Palace.
It was an encouraging all round performance which provided yet another positive result for Watford, and they will look to use it as a platform to kick on and hopefully accomplish something special this season.