WATFORD marched into the third round of the EFL Cup as Tom Cleverley won the battle of the Manchester United old boys.
Hornets striker Mileta Rajovic scored in the 17th and 72nd minutes to hand the Hornets a deserved victory over Wayne Rooney’s Argyle, although Plymouth sub Ryan Hardie hit the post late on.
Cleverley, who won the Premier League title with United alongside Rooney in 2013, kept his 100 per cent record for the season – now it is five wins out of five.
But his old team-mate has won just once with Argyle, in the first round of this competition.
Cleverley made seven changes from the team that beat Derby 2-1 at home on Saturday to lift the Hornets to second in the table.
Rooney included nine men who did not figure in the 1-1 draw at QPR, a couple maybe forced by the fact that Argyle had two players sent off in that match.
Watford always held the edge and struck first when Rajovic netted with a cheeky flick from a right-wing cross by Ryan Porteous.
Argyle came under tremendous pressure from the start of the second half, and keeper Dan Grimshaw pulled off some fine saves before Rajovic hooked home from the edge of the six-yard box.
Rooney certainly came out worse off in this battle of Fergie’s boys, hearing “sacked in the morning” sung in his direction from Watford fans during the second half.
Rooney’s side started the season in the worst possible fashion with a horror 4-0 defeat at Sheffield Wednesday.
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The Man Utd legend has begun to turn things round, however, starting with a 3-0 win over Cheltenham in the opening round of the EFL Cup.
They picked up their first points of the season with a draw at home to Hull City, and followed that up with a point away to QPR on Saturday despite spending more than an hour with ten men.
Now Rooney and his underperforming side will have to pick themselves up and go again at the weekend.
Argyle host Stoke City at Home Park on Saturday with the Potters hot off the back of a 5-0 thrashing over Middlesbrough in their EFL Cup clash.
