Watford 2 Man Utd 4: Ashley Young haunts Hornets as Anthony Martial and Jesse Lingard also strike
Veteran England international continues his renaissance as he produces two stunning first half efforts against his former club but Lingard steals the show with worldie
ASHLEY YOUNG will be closing the Watford branch of his fan club.
A former player who was greeted with respectful applause on his return, Young made the bizarre decision to antagonise the supporters as his double saw United close the gap at the top to five points. For a few hours, at least.
Young cupped his ear to celebrate his first goal and then slid on his knees towards the home fans after scoring the second six minutes later and his actions were not received particularly well.
Young is lucky there are a pretty mild mannered bunch here at Vicarage Road because at other grounds, all hell would have broken loose if an ex player –had behaved like this after enjoying a good reception when his name was read out.
Not that Jose Mourinho will have cared as his team demolished their opponents in a first half battering despite a reasonably unimpressive start.
With Manchester City threatening to win the title before we even get to spring, United proved they are trying to still keep it a contest.
Mourinho watched with a mixture of disbelief as his side rattled off three goals in the space of 13 first half minutes.
With a trip to Arsenal on Saturday followed by a home game against the neighbours on Sunday week, anything other than away win would have been a disaster.
'PRICELESS' Ashley Young surprises everyone with stunning free-kick… And Jose Mourinho’s reaction is brilliant
United will now hope that City lose the plot and suffer a defeat at home to Southampton but on current form, this is about as likely as Young being invited to switch on Watford's Christmas lights next year.
In a straightforward win, it was certainly Young who caught the eye regardless of the way he celebrated.
Mourinho has always been a big fan of his attitude along with the fact he is versatile and is now playing at left wing-back.
Young, who has since been rewarded with a place back in the England squad, is hoping to stay at Old Trafford for the rest of his career although United are set to activate a one-year extension clause.
2 Bet £10 or more
3 Sun Bets will stick a £30 bet in your account
Young once again annoyed the locals by sliding on his knees in front of the Rookery. It was the first time he had scored twice in the Premier League for five years.
As United’s bench celebrated, Mourinho sat motionless although looked baffled.
United’s third goal also came after a number of mistakes from the home side with the most crucial one being a poor header from Christian Kabasele which fell to Lukaku and he supplied Martial who rolled the ball past Gomes.
Just before the break, Young – looking for a first half hat-trick – hammered a free-kick against the wall which was greeted with cheers from the home fans.
Gomes delivered a decent double save from Lukaku and Lingard to prevent his team from going down four at the break while Richarlison.
As Jon Moss blew his half-time whistle, Young was the first one down the tunnel and once again, a few of the locals made their mood known.
United were solid in the second half, although with one eye on the return south to the Emirates in three days’ time, they hardly busted a gut.
Nemenja Matic got a knock, Lukaku missed a good chance and then Troy Deeney pulled one back from the penalty spot after Marcos Rojo fouled sub Roberto Pereyra.
With six minutes left, Watford set up the tense finish which would simply have not happened had Lukaku made it 4-0.
Sub Andre Carrillo crossed and Doucoure stuck out his leg to score.
Yet just as the home side got their hopes up, Lingard scored one of the goals of season running from his own half before sliding the ball into the net.
Mourinho celebrated with Zlatan Ibrahomivic - and then promptly replaced him for Lingard.
So United held on for their first away league win in four matches and Mourinho, having beaten pal Silva, knows it will be a lot tougher against the manager he likes least – Arsene Wenger - this weekend.