Watford 2-0 Granada - Hornets Ease Past La Liga Side At Vicarage Road

Watford's pre-season preparations came closer to a conclusion as they played their one and only home friendly prior to the new season. With the new Sky Bet Championship getting underway next week when Gianfranco Zola's side travel to Birmingham City, the Hornets took on sister club Granada and emerged with a comfortable 2-0 victory. The La Liga side who finished in 15th place last season are also owned by the Pozzo family but it was only decided last week that they would face their English counterparts for the first time instead of Watford's planned friendly against the New York Cosmos. Sporting their brand new away kit, the hosts got off to a exhilarating start as early as the second minute as new signing Marco Davide Faraoni - formerly of Inter Milan - raced down the right hand side before he delivered a wonderful cross into the danger zone. There was Troy Deeney - who would prove a handful all afternoon - who knocked the ball down and arriving onto the scene was Watford's 2012/13 Player of the Year in Almen Abdi whose left foot strike just crept wide. The Granada side who included former Portsmouth midfielder Hassan Yebda were struggling to adjust and it was Watford who were looking more comfortable. In particular one of the sixteen new recruits for the Championship club in defender Gabriele Angella was impressive as he showed assurance on the ball and was not afraid to bring his teammates into the game. Yet the home side were given a reminder of threat posed by the opposition following a telling cross from Guilherme Siquiera which was headed goalwards by Ivan Soto - though on this occasion it never tested former Arsenal goalkeeper Manuel Almunia as it sailed harmlessly wide. The Hornets supporters were getting their first glimpse of Diego Fabbrini's potential as he was linking up cohesively with Deeney several times. The versatile attacker had a loan spell with eventually relegated Palermo last season, and the home supporters will undoubtedly hope his showing today is a sign of things to come. On this occasion he fed Abdi who brought former Nottingham Forest midfielder Lewis McGugan into the game. He waltzed past a couple of defenders before hitting a tame shot at Granada shot-stopper Roberto, but the build up play was very promising from a Watford point of view. However, Lucas Alcaraz's side very nearly broke the deadlock as Francisco Luna's attempted lob almost caught Almunia out, eventually coming to a rest on the roof of the net. Nonetheless it was Zola's side who were having the better of the game at this stage, notably right wing-back Faraoni who had bombed forward at every opportunity. It was his intuitiveness which almost paid major dividends soon after when McGugan again found room but his effort was once more too tame to test Roberto. 32-year holding midfielder Iriney was showing his experience in his first home outing as a Watford player incidentally against his former club, as he demonstrated several deft touches and had an eye for a pass from the outset. Every time Granada had an opportunity from a dead ball situation it was adequately dealt with by the Golden Boys' defence, while they were very swift in turning defence into attack as Fabbrini showed terrific persistence and work rate to maintain possession and then to win a corner. Watford were upping their tempo and looked increasingly dangerous when they had a penalty shout turned down by referee Graham Scott after Deeney appeared to bundled over. Although they did not have to wait much longer for the first goal of the afternoon which arrived after 38 minutes courtesy of Fabbrini. A driving run by Abdi took him to the edge of the area and Deeney's subsequent cross was perfectly weighted for Daniel Pudil who unselfishly knocked it into the path of the former Empoli striker. Following some neat footwork the 22-year-old opened his body up and curled it into the top left hand corner leaving the goalkeeper motionless. Watford went close to a second shortly afterwards via a Granada defender who inadvertently had sent Faraoni's testing cross towards his own goal. It was Luna though who would have the last clear cut chance of the half - as he beat the offside trap - but he could only strike wide with just Almunia to beat when he should have scored. The Hornets made four changes at half-time which included the introduction of Fernando Forestieri and former Real Madrid B striker Javier Acuna. The latter was into the game immediately as fellow substitute Ikechi Anya's darting run presented an opening and he curled a terrific effort just over. Then it was McGugan and Abdi who combined beautifully to set up Forestieri though his driven effort would only find the side netting. Nevertheless it was a promising start to the second half for the home side. Yet Granada once again provided a genuine reminder about their credentials as a terrific one-two which involved Yacine Brahimi very nearly brought them the equaliser. The dangerous ball across the face of goal was crying out for someone to guide it home, however no one was on hand and Watford survived unscathed. The brother of former Manchester United and England defender Wes Brown, Reece Brown was then introduced by the home side as was Sean Murray who would certainly have been keen to impress in an attempt to force his way into Zola's reckoning again following his subdued end to the 2012/13 campaign. The hosts also gave Academy graduate Luke O'Nien his first taste of action at Vicarage Road as he came off of the bench for the final few minutes. Forestieri then came close to adding a second following a terrific cross from Battocchio, as his powerful volley forced a smart save from Roberto in the Granada goal.

Watford were certainly playing in confident fashion with intricate passing on show. It is therefore no surprise that they drew so many plaudits for their style last season. And that was in evidence as Acuna found the run of Anya - playing against his former club - and he showed terrific composure to steer beyond Roberto for 2-0. While it effectively sealed the victory for Watford, they were to be let off the hook again by another ball across the face of goal which was inches away from being diverted goal wards and then by a free-kick from Diego Rende which forced substitute goalkeeper Jonathan Bond into action as he got down well to keep out a smart header from an arriving Granada attacker. 'El Grana' were most dangerous from set pieces as they too continued their preparations for their new domestic season which kicks off in Spain on 17th August. There were several encouraging signs for Watford ahead of the 2013/14 season, though we must however be careful not to read too much into friendlies as this was at times played out in typical pre-season fashion. Granada did cause the Hornets some problems but by and large Watford were solid defensively led by summer signing Angella who promises to be a key fixture for his new side this season. Zola now takes a Watford XI to Boreham Wood in midweek before Lee Clark's Birmingham City provide the real test this time next week for a Watford side who look to have assembled a strong group. The first of what may prove to be an annual meeting with one of their sister club's had a successful outcome and some of the football today most certainly bodes well as last year's Play-off finalists prepare for the new Championship season.