Vladimir Ivic Key Qoutes - Watford 0 Cardiff City 1

Watford manager Vladimir Ivic shared his thoughts on a difficult afternoon at Vicarage Road.

A Kieffer Moore goal secured Neil Harris’s Cardiff City all three points as the Bluebirds beat Watford 1-0 at Vicarage Road.

With 2,000 Hornets fans in attendance, Watford slipped to 7th in the Championship standings.

An end to end opening ten minutes set the pace at Vicarage Road. Hornets forward Joao Pedro had the first chance of the game. The Brazilian hit whiskers wide as he fired across the face of the goal in the 13^th minute.

Cardiff’s first chance of the tie came courtesy of Kieffer Moore. Searching for a fifth goal in five games, the forward could only head wide in the 15^th minute.

The Cardiff corner count steadily increased as the first half drew to a close. Bluebirds captain Sean Morrison lept high as he headed over in the 38^th minute.

The deadlock eventually broke in the 42^nd minute. Cardiff forward Moore indirectly converted from a fifth Bluebirds corner, a left footed effort from the centre of the box flew into the bottom right corner.

Watford began to knock on the door as the game went on. Both Sarr and Quina were held off by a compact Cardiff defence towards the 70^th minute mark. A Pedro header was perhaps the best chance of the game for Watford in the 72^nd minute - Smithies made the save.

Hughes tried to draw his side level in the 84^th minute. With power but, limited precision, the Englishman shot inches wide.

Watford rounded off a disappointing afternoon with a disappointing Quina free kick in additional time. 

Vladimir Ivic said:

"It was not a good performance, especially for our fans who were with us for the first time after a long period.

"We didn’t do our job. We didn’t start the game well. The first and second half’s were very different. We need to start from the first second of the game and have passion. It’s not looking like that at the moment.

"In the second half, we pushed our opponents and we tried. My problem is our game. If we played the first 45 minutes like the second, then I’d have something positive to tell.

"We need to be aware and play 90 minutes from the beginning and give our best. Players might be tired, but we have players on the bench who can do the job.

"Millwall have dominant players in the air. Strong guys. We don’t play football in the air, we want to play on the grass. We need to work and improve this season as fast as possible. We must be ready for the next game.

"No one is happy because of our performance. Our fans are there to support us until the end and it’s not a good result.

"We need to think about the next result and fight for the next points. We are happy that the fans were back and I hope that in the next few months, there will be fans in the whole stadium.

"We work together in attack and defence. Whether from the bench or on the pitch, they know what we expect of them and what we need them to do. Some of our players lost confidence.

"I don’t know the reason for only starting to play in the second half. You can lose the game, but you must lose playing at a top level.

"I’m sure some of the players felt the pressure of the fans, but I believe that pressure must be positive and not negative."