Swansea City midfielder Goncalo Franco has been defended by interim boss Alan Sheehan after the midfielder’s inexplicable howler led to defeat at Watford.
The Swans went down 1-0 at Vicarage Road, strengthening the home club’s push for a Championship play-off spot while ending Swansea’s unbeaten run under Irishman Sheehan.
Moussa Sissoko’s first-half strike proved decisive, capitalising on a costly mistake by
Franco.
The Portuguese midfielder’s horribly misplaced pass gifted possession to Tom Ince, who quickly set up Sissoko to curl an unstoppable effort past Lawrence Vigouroux.
"Franco is very disappointed,” said Sheehan.
“He thought he was passing to one of his team-mates, which is understandable.
"But he's been absolutely outstanding for us. He's one of the reasons we've got points in recent weeks. We win as a team and we lose as a team.”
Franco has indeed been one of the Swans’ better players during a season riddled with inconsistency, but his error will rank among the worst of the campaign.
Ince could hardly believe his luck as the ball was simply rolled into his path and wrong-footed the entire Swansea defence, before Sissoko applied the finish.
It meant an end to the three-game unbeaten mini revival under Sheehan and leaves the Swans still in 16th place in the Championship, with a nine-point cushion above the relegation zone.
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The win lifted Watford to 10th in the table, trimming the gap to sixth-placed Coventry City to just four points with nine matches remaining.
Sheehan insisted: "I think we should be coming away with the point, if I'm being honest. There wasn't a whole lot in the game in the first half.
"We turned the ball over a few too many times in the first half in certain areas, and then an individual error for the goal.
"In the second half I thought we were totally in control. We had a few good half-chances and we were just one pass, one bit of quality away.
“I don’t think either team did enough to win it. They had one shot on target until they had another right at the end when we were having to go a bit gung-ho.
“It’s a very disappointed dressing room, but the lads have put the effort in, I thought we were a little bit leggy after three games in a week but I cannot be critical of the players because they gave it everything.”
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Watford manager Tom Cleverley said: "We can't keep putting these games to chance. The first-half performance once again was fantastic, but in the second half we looked tired.
"We have to demand more from ourselves.”
"But it was a fantastic goal. Moussa is so important for the group, both on and off the field, and he's certainly leading by example."
