Watford 2 Manchester United 4: Ashley Young stars with two goals as Jose Mourinho keeps pressure on Man City

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Tom Doyle28 November 2017

Ashley Young was Manchester United's star for the second time in four days as the wing-back struck twice to help beat Watford 4-2 at Vicarage Road.

Fresh from seeing his effort deflect in off Lewis Dunk to beat Brighton 1-0 at Old Trafford on Saturday, Young finally got his name on the scoresheet for the first time in 19 months.

The Hornets shocked United with a 3-1 win here last season and started the brighter of the two sides, but Young stunned the home crowd with a sweetly-struck volley which beat Heurelho Gomes at his near post after 19 minutes.

Having waited almost two years for a goal, Young then added his second in seven minutes as he sent a curling free kick into the top right-hand corner of Gomes' net, with the keeper beaten by the sheer spin and height on the ball - an effort which left Jose Mourinho flabbergasted on the sidelines.

Watford were struggling to deal with United's speed in behind their midfield with Abdoulaye Doucoure booked for tugging back Paul Pogba, and United had a third after 32 minutes with Romelu Lukaku teeing up Anthony Martial for a simple finish.

United would have been four ahead at the interval had Gomes not managed to pull of a stunning point-blank save from Jesse Lingard, while Richarlison's header off the bar in first-half injury time was the closest the hosts went before the interval.

Romelu Lukaku wasted two presentable chances before Troy Deeney gave Watford hope of a fightback with a penalty 13 minutes from time, and Abdoulaye Doucoure's effort soon after set up a grandstand finale.

But in pressing for another, Watford ended up conceding as Jesse Lingard ran 70 yards on the break before coolly finishing to wrap up the points.

The victory sees United close the gap on league leaders Manchester City to five points, though Pep Guardiola's men play their game in hand against Southampton on Wednesday night.

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