Watford's Dennis and Sarr hand Manchester United heaviest loss against a newly-promoted club

Nigeria’s Emmanuel Dennis provided two assists and a goal while Senegal’s Ismaila Sarr scored a goal as Watford thrashed Manchester United 4-1 in a Premier League match on Saturday.

The result at Vicarage Road was United’s heaviest league defeat against a newly-promoted club since September 1989 when they suffered a 5-1 loss to Manchester City.

Sarr had the first opportunity to open the scoring for the hosts with a penalty in the 11th minute but it was parried by goalkeeper David De Gea and he was given another chance to retake after the VAR spotted that the players were encroaching before his shot, but he failed to score again.

Not too long after the double miss, Josh King opened the scoring for Watford after benefitting from Dennis' assist in the 28th minute and just before the break, Sarr made up for his missed penalties by doubling the lead in the 44th minute.

After the break, Donny van de Beek halved the deficit for Manchester United but things turned to worse for them as captain Harry Maguire received two yellow cards within seven minutes and he was given his marching orders.

Super Eagles defender William Troost-Ekong was introduced in the 64th minute for Cameroon's Nicolas Nkoulou in the 64th minute while Sarr later made way for Juan Hernandez.

Just at the death of the encounter, Joao Pedro stretched the Hornets' lead in the 92nd minute and Dennis capitalised on United's defensive blunder to seal maximum points for the hosts.

The Nigeria star took off his shirt to celebrate the goal and he was consequently shown a yellow card.

Dennis, who moved to Vicarage Road on a five-year deal in June, has now contributed four goals and five assists in 11 Premier League games this season.

Meanwhile, Sarr has scored five goals in 12 league appearances this term, equalling his goal tally in his debut campaign in England (2019-20).

Watford are now 16th on the league table with 13 points from 12 matches while Manchester United dropped to seventh with 17 points, after conceding back-to-back losses.