Andre Gray has scored four goals in his last three league games against Fulham
Watford had to settle for a draw at Fulham after Aleksandar Mitrovic struck late on to earn the hosts a point.
The Hornets punished a poor start by Fulham as Andre Gray sidefooted home inside 90 seconds and the visitors, who won their first four Premier League games of the season, dominated the first half.
Gray was denied by Fulham goalkeeper Marcus Bettinelli either side of the break and Watford paid for their wasted chances as an improved second-half performance by the hosts saw them draw level through Mitrovic’s equaliser on 78 minutes.
The Serb twice went close to claiming a late winner for the Cottagers, including a header against the crossbar, although that would have been hard on Watford, who had looked well on course to return to winning ways after losing to Manchester United last Saturday.
Despite Fulham missing out on only their second league win since returning to the top flight, their coach Slavisa Jokanovic will be encouraged by the way his side tightened up after the break.
Fulham defence in disarray
Fulham’s Alfie Mawson had a passing accuracy of 69%, lost six of his nine duels and was booked before being substituted at half-time
Jokanovic, who left Watford shortly after leading them into the Premier League in 2015, has named a different back four for each game this season and it showed as their defence was again in disarray in the first half.
The Cottagers have the worst defensive record in the league and for the second week running they conceded inside two minutes.
They had four chances to clear following a tame throw-in from the left before Will Hughes pounced on the loose ball on the edge of the box and played in Gray, who slotted into the bottom corner for his third goal of the season.
Watford defender Christian Kabasele then had a free run at Jose Holebas’ inswinging corner and only an inadvertent block by Ryan Sessegnon stopped Kabasele’s six-yard header making it 2-0.
Alfie Mawson’s header back to Bettinelli was then cut out by Gray, with Mawson relieved to see Gray’s shot loop behind off his keeper.
Mawson also misjudged a long ball by Ben Foster, allowing Roberto Pereyra to run into the box and curl just wide of the far post.
The summer signing from Swansea was booked before surviving a penalty appeal for a clumsy sliding challenge on Hughes, and Jokanovic put Mawson out of his misery by making a double substitution at half-time.
Consistency key for Watford
Mitrovic’s equaliser means Fulham have lost just one of their past 19 home league games, including play-offs (won 14, drawn four)
Watford coach Javi Gracia had the luxury of naming an unchanged team for the sixth Premier League game running and the Hornets played like a settled side.
Organised at the back and comfortable on the ball in midfield, they also had the outlet of in-form strike pair Gray and Troy Deeney, who held the ball up for their supporting team-mates as well as proving a constant menace to centre-halves Mawson and Calum Chambers.
One of the few scares they had in the first half was when Andre Schurrle found Luciano Vietto on the counter-attack and his shot was saved by Ben Foster before the Argentine curled the rebound wide.
Fulham carried a greater threat after the interval, with Mitrovic heading over from a Schurrle cross, while Watford had opportunities to kill the game off, with Bettinelli stopping Gray’s low shot.
But the Cottagers drew level as Vietto squared for Mitrovic to tap in his fifth goal of the season from four yards.
Watford substitute Isaac Success was then denied by Bettinelli before Mitrovic forced Foster to turn a shot wide and, from the resulting corner, the former Newcastle striker almost claimed a stoppage-time winner as he powered a header against the woodwork.
Mitrovic on fire – the stats
This was Fulham’s 500th match in the Premier League, making them the 15th team to reach the milestone.
Watford became just the fifth team to start each of their first six games of a Premier League season with the same starting XI (after Leeds 1992-93, Tottenham 1994-95, Liverpool 1996-97 and Aston Villa 2008-09).
Watford are without a win on their past nine Premier League visits to London, their draw against Fulham coming after eight consecutive defeats.
Gray’s goal, timed at one minute 27 seconds, was the quickest in the Premier League since 10 March 2018 (Kenedy for Newcastle v Southampton, 1:03).
Gray’s goal (1:27) was also Watford’s second quickest in the Premier League after Etienne Capoue against Leicester in November 2016 (32 seconds).
Since his debut for Fulham in February 2018, Aleksandar Mitrovic has scored 17 goals in English league football, more than any other player.
What’s next?
Fulham make the short trip to Millwall in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday (19:45 BST) before returning to Premier League action at Everton next Saturday (15:00).
Watford have another two London derbies over the next week, at Tottenham in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday (19:45) – with the game to be played at Milton Keynes – and at Arsenal in the league on Saturday (15:00).