Manchester United closed the gap on Premier League leaders Manchester City back to five points this evening courtesy of a thrilling 4-2 victory at Vicarage Road.
A clinical first-half performance from the visitors saw them go into the break with a commanding three-goal lead courtesy of an unlikely brace from Ashley Young and one from Anthony Martial.
Watford threatened an extraordinary comeback in the final 15 minutes when Troy Deeney and Abdoulaye Doucoure pulled goals back for the hosts, but Jesse Lingard quickly quashed those hopes with a fine solo effort to wrap up the points.
Find out how all of the action unfolded on a memorable night courtesy of Sports Mole's minute-by-minute coverage below.
Thank you very much for joining Sports Mole for what turned out to be a six-goal thriller between Watford and Manchester United, which ultimately went the way of the visitors as they close the gap on Man City to five points once again. I will leave you with our match report, and be sure to stick around for reaction too.
From me, though, it is goodbye for now!
United were so clinical in the first half and raced into a 3-0 before Gomes even made his first save of the contest, but Watford threatened an extraordinary comeback when goals from Troy Deeney and Abdoulaye Doucoure inside the final 15 minutes reduced the deficit back to one. However, Lingard responded quickly with a brilliant solo effort to kill off the fight back and seal all three points for the Red Devils.
Lingard kills off the Watford fightback in some style with a brilliant solo effort, picking the ball up on the halfway line and carry the ball past three Watford players before firing his low finish past the keeper. Sensational goal from Lingard.
Carrillo is again the architect as he plays the ball to Doucoure just inside the area, and the midfielder dangles a foot at the ball to clip a brilliantly-controlled volley into the corner. Vicarage Road is really beginning to believe now!
United can't have any real complaints over the award of the penalty either, with Carrillo beating Rojo in the box before being brought to ground by a rash challenge.
It was poor defending from Watford as they gave the ball to Lukaku and then allowed the striker's pass go all the way through to Martial, who curled his finish into the bottom corner from the edge of the box.
Pogba's powerful run from midfield earned a free kick for the visitors, and Young was quick to grab the ball. It proved to be a good decision too, as he curled an inch-perfect effort into the top corner and past a helpless Gomes.
Lukaku and Lingard had combined to set up Young, who confidently dispatched the strike despite not having scored in 19 months.
Watford have not actually played that badly and looked the most likely to break the deadlock before United did open the scoring. From then on it was a clinical performance from the visitors, who put Watford to the sword almost every time they came forward to build a commanding lead at the break.
8 - Anthony Martial has scored eight goals in all competitions this term (20th appearance); equalling his tally from the whole of last season (eight in 42). Ruthless. pic.twitter.com/QzBCP7cRRP
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) November 28, 2017
This time it is too easy for them as a clearance goes straight to Lukaku, whose pass releases Martial. The winger works space to shoot on the edge of the box and drills a powerful low strike past Gomes. Clinical from the visitors.
This one is something special too as he swings a beauty of a free kick into the top corner, leaving Gomes helpless despite the keeper being stood that side of the goal. Magnificent strike from the wing-back, who is now on a hat-trick.
Young had the shot which forced the own goal on Saturday, but there is no doubt that this one is his to keep. A quick counter sees Lukaku slide the ball into the feet of Lingard, who turns and then gives it out wide for Young. Young escapes the attentions of one defender before lashing a crisp early strike past Gomes, who could not react in time.
There is already good news for United from one of them, with Leicester City taking the lead against Tottenham Hotspur through Jamie Vardy.
WATFORD STARTING XI: Gomes; Zeegelaar, Mariappa, Kabasele, Prodl, Femenia; Hughes, Cleverley, Doucoure; Richarlison; Gray
MAN UTD STARTING XI: De Gea; Rojo, Smalling, Lindelof; Valencia, Matic, Pogba, Young; Lingard, Martial, Lukaku
Juan Mata and Anthony Martial were the goalscorers on that occasions, scoring in each half to hand Mourinho's side a relatively comfortable win.
Watford haven't even remained unbeaten in successive home games against United since 1986, when they drew in May and then won 1-0 in September.
However, Watford's first and only triumph over the Red Devils came in this corresponding fixture last season, when late goals from Zuniga and Deeney helped the Hornets to a famous 3-1 victory back in September 2016.
This is a very interesting match between two good sides who fare worse at home and away respectively. Watford have taken some big scalps already this season but already been soundly beaten by big teams, while all of United's dropped points have come away from home. United obviously have the greater quality in their ranks, but I am going to plump for a score draw tonight.
SPORTS MOLE SAYS: Watford 1-1 Manchester United
Arsenal and Manchester City provide the opposition in United's next two Premier League games, both of which will be huge matches for Mourinho's title challenge, but if they take their eye off the ball tonight then Watford are also more than capable of punishing them.
United have again lost two in a row away from home on that front and three of their last four courtesy of the 1-0 Champions League defeat to Basel a week ago. The Red Devils have not lost three consecutive away games in all competition since December 2015, and have not failed to score in three away games on the bounce since October 1999.
Another defeat tonight - which is not entirely out of the questions considering Watford's form - would see them lose three consecutive Premier League away games for the first time since January 1996, and only eight of their 29 points so far this season have come on the road.
They come into this match on the back of consecutive wins over Newcastle and Brighton, though, and another victory tonight would mark back-to-back triumphs across all competitions for the first time this month.
City have made the best ever start to a Premier League campaign, dropping only two points so far, meaning that United's own decent start looks distinctly average next to it. The Red Devils could close the gap to five points tonight, but City would be expected to open it back up against when they host Southampton on Wednesday.
Indeed, their tally of only six goals conceded is Manchester United's best record since 2007-08, and if they prevent Watford from scoring tonight then they would become only the third team in Premier League history - after Liverpool in 2005-06 and Chelsea in 2008-09, to reach double figures of clean sheets after 14 games of the season.
© SilverHub
Mourinho's sides are always built on a sturdy defence, but last season what let United down was their failure to score at the other end. This time around they haven't quite been able to match the free-scoring Man City, but they do still sit second in the scoring stakes having found the back of the net 28 times in their 13 outings.
Marco Silva's side have the worst defence outside the bottom six as things stand and have conceded a league-high 11 goals from set pieces already this term, including six from corner. The Hornets have also conceded 35 goals from their 11 league fixtures against last season's top six so far this calendar year, so the visit of United does not bode particularly well for them.
On a brighter note, they did beat West Ham in their most recent outing at Vicarage Road, meaning that another win this evening would make it back-to-back home wins for the first time since April.
Indeed, if only away form counted this season Watford would currently reside in third place, behind only Man City and Chelsea, whereas if only home form counted then they would sit 14th, with only five teams having amassed fewer points in front of their own fans.
The calibre of opposition will not faze them either - they have already taken points off Liverpool (3-3) and Arsenal (2-1) this season, although they were heavily beaten by Manchester City (0-6) and also fell to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge by a 4-2 scoreline so it has been a mixed bag against last season's top six so far.
Both of those victories have seen Watford keep a clean sheet too having failed to keep one in seven games prior to that, so their defensive record is also improving.
The chances of them finishing second this time around are incredibly slim, of course, but the number one goal for Marco Silva when taking over would have been to avoid relegation and the Hornets are already 11 points clear of the bottom three - not to mention more than halfway towards the magic 40-point mark.
Watford may be dreaming even higher than mid-table considering the start they have made and, after a little wobble recently, they now look to be back on track. Victory tonight would lift them above Liverpool temporarily and into sixth place, which surpasses the vast majority of their pre-season expectations.
Hughes actually only made his Premier League debut on October 28, but he has now scored in back-to-back games for the first time in his career, opening the scoring on both occasions.
A number of clubs have already been linked with a January bid for the young Brazilian, who has been directly involved in seven goals during his last eight Premier League appearances, scoring four times and assisting three more. He will be the man to watch for United tonight.
Behind them, Heurelho Gomes continues between the sticks where he has earned plenty of plaudits for his performances so far this season.
Miguel Britos picked up a knock at St James' Park and has failed to recover in time for this game, so in comes Sebastian Prodl to replace him - just as he did off the bench against the Magpies. This is Prodl's first start since August.
Aside from Rojo's inclusion, coming in for Juan Mata, the only other change made from that win over Brighton sees Jesse Lingard come into the starting lineup as Rashford drops to the bench.
Neither Phil Jones nor Eric Bailly are yet fit enough to return from their own injury problems, which means that Rojo is joined in the back three by Lindelof and Smalling, while Valencia and Young will provide the width on either side as wing-backs.
Lukaku has scored 93 goals in his 199 Premier League appearances so far, with only 10 players in the competition's history having managed more than that before reaching the double-century. Alan Shearer leads the way, as you might expect, with an incredible 145 goals in his first 200 Premier League outings.
Well, we'll have a closer look at Watford in a short while, but first let's look at the visitors tonight as Jose Mourinho keeps faith with Romelu Lukaku up front despite the Belgian having scored only one goal in his last 10 appearances for the club.
Lukaku had been in danger of missing this game altogether after what looked like a kick out at Gaeten Bong during Saturday's narrow win over Brighton, but he avoided any retrospective punishment for that and is in from the start today for his 200th Premier League appearance.
© Offside
It is always a treat to have some midweek Premier League fixtures, and this is a particularly intriguing one as the impressive Watford host title hopefuls United. Watford would move sixth with victory - for 24 hours at least - whereas United know that any dropped points could prove fatal to their title hopes with City in such relentless form.
Before we take a closer look, though, let's first check out the team news...
