‘Masterclass,’ ‘Outstanding’ – Many Watford fans hail performance of attacker in Stoke City win

A number of Watford fans have been heaping praise on Troy Deeney following his performance for the Hornets in their vital 2-1 win away at promotion rivals Stoke City on Friday night.

Watford went into the game looking to pick up all three points to lift themselves up to third place in the Championship table and on level points with second-placed Swansea City. The Hornets were largely second best in the first half with them struggling to get their attacking players into the game, but that changed after the break and two quickfire goals made the difference.

One player who was instrumental in the second-half turnaround was Deeney, with the Watford captain helping to cause plenty of problems for Stoke’s defence when dropping deeper and linking up the play. That was something he did to very good effect for the second goal laying a well-weighted ball through for Ismaila Sarr to fire in across Joe Bursik.

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Deeney had already thumped home a penalty for his sixth Championship goal of the campaign, and the forward continued to be a lively presence throughout the second period. The 32-year-old also managed to deliver two key passes and complete two successful dribbles (Sofascore), which shows he was able to create things and make things open up in the final third.

Many Watford fans were quick to praise the forward for his display against Stoke with some suggesting it was the best they have seen from him for a while. He will hope it can be the catapult for more consistent displays in the coming weeks.

Here then, we take a look at some of the best reactions on social media…

Shame about not keeping a clean sheet but 3 massive points and a Troy Deeney masterclass 🙌 🐝#WatfordFC

— Joe Edlin (@JosephAJ90) January 22, 2021

Deeney has been so much better in the last few games #watfordfc

— Matt Sawyer (@MattSawyer9) January 22, 2021

Best Deeney performance in a long time, not bad considering the shocking first half, although that was all round.#watfordfc

— James Anthony (@jamesanthony126) January 22, 2021

Cannot fault Troy Deeney today, he’s been absolutely class #watfordfc

— AlexPollard (@apfp_10) January 22, 2021

Deeney's gone from passenger to conductor #WatfordFC

— James Glen 💙 (@james__glen) January 22, 2021

YES!!! Huge win! @T_Deeney outstanding! 🐝🐝 #watfordfc https://t.co/Ql8G3SvCVt

— Ryan Thrussell (@RyanThruss) January 22, 2021

MOTM performance from the captain @T_Deeney Credit where credit’s due 👏 #watfordfc

— Jonathan Oakley (Jho) (@jhooakley1980) January 22, 2021