Fulham too good for Watford but FA Cup the real loser as it becomes Thursday night afterthought
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Hope they enjoyed it in the overseas territories where TV viewers are more important to the Football Association than supporters of their own clubs. Thursday nights were once the preserve of English football’s also-rans in Europe, but desecration of the FA Cup is now permissible vandalism for a fistful of foreign currency.
Marco Silva’s Fulham were far too good for his old club, whose bright start to the season is now floundering after four consecutive defeats. But we should neither forgive nor forget the FA clots who sold out the best weekend of their knockout showpiece. Instead of a tasty reunion between Silva and his former employers on a Saturday afternoon, we got a poorly-attended Cup tie on the middle shelf of the fridge on a school night.
Seven years ago, Silva walked the plank at Vicarage Road after fluttering his eyelids at Everton and the Hornets, convinced he had been tapped up, collected £4.5 million in compensation. Sadly, the acrimony around Silva’s departure was reflected in the brutal soundtrack of more than 4,500 visiting supporters, but the side he has built at Craven Cottage is progressive and worth a flutter to win the Cup.
At first, seven changes on either side wasn’t a recipe for continuity, but Silva’s men spent so long camped around the Watford box that they needed tent pegs. Alex Iwobi had already seen a speculative effort tipped round the post by Hornets keeper Jonathan Bond when they went in front after 26 minutes.
