Christian Atsu's Newcastle United hammered 3-0 at home by Watford, Ghanaian's absence bites

Coach Marco Silva got the better of Rafael Benitez in spectacular style as Watford stormed to a 3-0 Premier League victory at Newcastle as the absence of their Ghanaian winger Christian Atsu gravely affected the home side.

The Portuguese correctly identified the Magpies' Achilles' heel -- right-back DeAndre Yedlin's tendency to abandon his defensive duties to provide an extra attacking option -- and his players exploited it in brutal fashion to cruise to a 3-0 win.

Atsu could have offered the needed support to the right-back Yedlin to alleviate the problem but injury means the Ghanaian right winger could not be deployed to support the right-back.

All three goals came down that wing, with Will Hughes converting Marin Zeegelaar's 19th-minute cross and Yedlin deflecting home another before the break before Andre Gray -- a man Benitez wanted to sign during the summer -- finished from close range from Richarlison's ball in.

The Hornets also passed up a series of other opportunities in front of a largely frustrated crowd of 52,188 as they condemned the Magpies to a fourth successive defeat and exposed the lack of genuine quality available to Benitez, whose hopes of reaching 20 points by the end of the year look forlorn.

With Tyneside once again gripped by takeover talk after Amanda Staveley's PCP Capital Partners tabled an initial offer, Benitez insisted in the run-up to the game that he would concentrate only on what he could control.

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