- Hornets first back-to-back losses of season
- Stoke’s first away W of season
- Fletcher scores 23rd career PL goal
Stoke City fired into a 16th minute lead through Darren Fletcher and held off Watford the rest of the way for a much-needed 1-0 win at Vicarage Road on Saturday.
The Potters rise to 14th with 11 points, while seventh place Watford is passed by Liverpool.
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Though Watford came out of the gate well, this was not the same Hornets team we’d seen in recent weeks.
Nor was it the same bunch of Potters, at least in spirit, as Stoke stayed tight defensively and broke through off a clever corner kick.
Xherdan Shaqiri sent his effort to the top of the 18, and Fletcher belted his effort through traffic to make it 1-0 to the visitors in the 16th minute.
Troy Deeney should’ve been sent off for grabbing Joe Allen’s face, though perhaps the referees did not spy the incident inside of a scrum.
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Darren Fletcher scores for Stoke on his 101st consecutive game in the Premier League.
— BT Sport Score (@btsportscore) October 28, 2017
Outstanding record. #BTSportScore pic.twitter.com/sJL48cKPay
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