Newcastle 1-2 Watford: Odion Ighalo double piles the pressure on Steve McClaren's side after woeful St James' Park performance 

• Steve McClaren still looking for his first Premier League win as Newcastle boss 
• Odion Ighalo opened the scoring for the Hornets after an error from Massadio Haidara on 10 minutes 
• The boos rang around St James' Park 18 minutes later when Ighalo doubled his tally after rounding Tim Krul 
• Daryl Janmaat pulled a goal back for the home side with a close range finish after good work from Moussa Sissoko  

By Craig Hope for the Daily Mail

Published: 10:52 EST, 19 September 2015 | Updated: 13:03 EST, 19 September 2015

Steve McClaren said that managing Newcastle during the early weeks of the season was like heading for a car crash – but he did not expect to be sifting through the wreckage of another defeat at home to relegation candidates Watford.

It is McClaren's side, however, who are heading for the Championship on the evidence of six winless – and fairly joyless – matches.

But credit must also go to Watford's two-goal hero Odion Ighalo, who took his tally for the calendar year to 20 – that is one less than Newcastle have managed in the Premier League during the same period.

Odion Ighlao (right) wheels away in celebration after giving Watford the lead at St James' Park

The forward took his second goal superbly after rounding Tim Krul to add more misery to the home side 

Jack Colback (right) and Chancel Mbemba look dejected as Waford doubled their lead in the first half

Daryl Janmaat, who was Newcastle's standout performer, gave the home side a glimmer of hope with a tidy finish 

The Dutchman fired home but it wasn't enough for the struggling Magpies in front of a sell-out St James' Park

Steve McClaren looked furious with her players for the abysmal display during the first half

McClaren, meanwhile, can only look on with envy at a player of Ighalo's predatory instinct.

Instead, he was forced to start Papiss Cisse, the striker who showed a lack of respect for his boss by failing to show for an arranged one-on-one meeting during the recent international break and then gave a disinterested performance during Monday's 2-0 defeat at West Ham.

How has McClaren been left so short that Cisse is his only option? The Senegal forward lasted 45 forgettable minutes before being hooked at half-time.

By that point Newcastle were trailing 2-0. If anything, the scoreline flattered the woeful hosts. For Watford were simply quicker, stronger, fitter and better organised.

Newcastle managing director Lee Charnley sent an email to supporters earlier this month in which he trumpeted the £52million invested during the summer.

But the transfer committee of Charnley, as well as chief scout Graham Carr and, of course, McClaren, have left this team desperately short of goals.

Moussa Sissoko (centre) is surrounded by three Watford players as they made life hard for Newcastle 

Troy Deeney, who caused Newcastle all sorts of problems, steps in between Colback and Georginio Wijnaldum

PLAYER RATINGS, PREMIER LEAGUE TABLE AND MATCH ZONE STATS 

 

Newcastle (4-1-4-1): Krul 6; Jaanmat 7.5, Mbemba 6.5, Coloccini 4, Haidara 4 (Aarons 80); Colback 4.5; Thauvin 4 (Obertan 88), Sissoko 5, Wijnaldum 5, Perez 4.5; Cisse 3.5 (De Jong 6)

Subs: Elliot, Williamson, Anita, Lascelles

Scorers: Janmaat 62

Bookings: Colback

Watford (4-2-3-1): Gomes 7; Nyom 7, Cathcart 7, Prodl 7.5, Anya 6.5; Capoue 7, Watson 6.5 (Guedioura 88); Abdi 7.5 (Berhuis 76, 6), Deeney 7.5, Jurado 6.5 (Ake 80); Ighalo 8

Subs: Berghuis, Hoban, Diamanti, Arlauskis

Scorers: Ighalo 10, 28

Bookings: Abdi, Capoue

Attendance: 47, 806

Referee: Roger East

MOM: Odion Ighalo 

Ighalo's heat map from the clash and you can find the rest of the stats HERE 

Indeed, former Newcastle manager and captain Alan Shearer tweeted: 'Even I won one in six! NUFC awful again. Charlie Austin looks cheap at £15million now.'

And McClaren, whose side were booed off at the end of both halves, said: 'To win football matches you have to score goals. We had to score three to win today – are we capable of that? We came up short, like we did against West Ham.

'I'm under no illusion this is a hard job, we have the proof of that now. But we have the experience in the backroom to turn this around.

'We are lucky that it's early. There is a long way to go. We are not hiding behind anything, there are things wrong and things we need to work on.'

Save for a frenzied period in the wake of Daryl Janmaat's second-half reply to give Newcastle hope of stealing a point, it was another unimaginative and uninspiring performance.

Ighalo led the line brilliantly for the Hornets and could have added more to his two goals 

Quique Sanchez Flores saw his side outplay Newcastle and deserve their three points in the North East

The same can't be said for McClaren, who once again saw his side slip to a disappointing result

The Magpies are only being kept off bottom by Sunderland and it looks like being another sorry season in the North-East.

But McClaren is refusing to panic. 'I said to the boys in the dressing-room - it's not a crisis and we can't panic,' he said.

'We have to stick together. We are going to get a lot of criticism. We know there is a lot to work on. It's not easy and we didn't expect it to be.

'You are where you deserve to be and that (second bottom) is where we are.'

Hornets boss Quique Sanchez Flores said: 'The win was well deserved. I want to praise the whole team but Odion was very good.

'We took a decision to keep him two months ago, there were offers from other teams. It was a clever decision.'

Florian Thauvin (right) tries to scoop the ball to Papiss Cisse, who missed a golden opportunity for the hosts

The Dutchman was given a deeper role on Saturday but couldn't help his side find 

The warning signs were there for Newcastle as early as the sixth minute. Almen Abdi flicked into the path of the unmarked Ighalo but he slammed wide with just Tim Krul to beat.

But the 26-year-old made no mistake four minutes later when he stepped away from Janmaat before cutting a low shot into the bottom corner from 12 yards.

The home side did have a chance to level when Moussa Sissoko played in Cisse but he lashed wide.

His opposite number, Troy Deeney, was giving a far better demonstration of attacking play at the other end of the pitch he rolled skipper Fabricio Coloccini all too easily before slipping in Ighalo for his second on 28 minutes.

Quique Flores points to the away fans in the heavens after their impressive win over Newcastle 

Ayoze Perez started for Newcastle on Saturday and was moved up top once Papiss Cisse was hauled off 

Janmaat halved the deficit just after the hour mark when he charged into the area and swapped passes with Sissoko before slotting calmly into the bottom corner.

His 25-yard blast was then flipped around the post by Gomes soon after and from his cross substitute Siem de Jong headed wide on 69 minutes.

De Jong had another chance to level 10 minutes later but shot tamely into the arms of Gomes.

It proved to be the last time United would threaten – the effort was in keeping with their overall performance, weak and painfully predictable.

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