Pezzolano: Watford 'ran out of steam' in Swansea draw

The Hornets had the lead at half-time thanks to a stunning Nestory Irankunda free-kick and were good value for it, restricting the Swans to virtually nothing.

The game changed on 60 minutes, though, with Pezzolano's side visibly waning and eventually conceding an equaliser to Zan Vipotnik.

More: AS IT HAPPENED: Swansea City v Watford

The head coach said: "The first half, we played very well. It was a very good 65-70 minutes from us.

"They couldn't find a way to harm us. The team was very solid on and off the ball. It was a lot of what we trained during the week so we were very pleased with that.

"Yes, in the last minutes we might have run out of steam, run out of energy. But the opponents also played well and they made the final few minutes hard.

"Maybe what leaves a bad taste in the mouth is that we cannot drop these points having done what we did in the first half and part of the second half.

"We should have won this game and it's a shame."

The points are shared in South Wales. pic.twitter.com/7b9VBKstsO — Watford Football Club (@WatfordFC) August 23, 2025

Pezzolano left Tom Ince out of the matchday squad completely, while Tom Dele-Bashiru was an unused substitute as Swansea got on top of Watford's tiring midfield in the second half.

The head coach pointed to the lack of options he had to replace starters Moussa Sissoko and Edo Kayembe.

He said: "We didn't have those exact characteristics on the bench to replace those players.

"They [Sissoko and Kayembe] have a very impressive presence on the pitch and that's hard to replace. Maybe in the second half that showed a little bit.

"Pierre Dwomoh is not fully fit but he can give us that base, that energy, in the centre of the pitch.

"When Giorgi Chakvetadze is available again, he may not have those exact characteristics but he can give you other stuff.

"Tom Dele-Bashiru can play as a holding midfielder. We also have Amar Sanghrajka, who we think with time and development can have the characteristics we need in the centre of the pitch.

"Of course if anyone arrives during the transfer market it will be very welcome but right now we are working with the squad as it is."

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