Watford were brought down to earth after last week’s highs at the Emirates Stadium as they suffered a third successive Premier League defeat with a 2-1 loss at home to Stoke City.

A late Troy Deeney goal gave the Hornets hope of improbable turnaround after producing what, for the most part, had been one of the most disappointing displays of the season.

Watford were poor in the first half and could have few complaints at trailing to Jonathan Walters’ opener.

The hosts were getting out-fought and out-thought in midfield and were missing Ben Watson’s ability to break up and build play, while suspect decision-making was also not helping their cause.

It didn’t get much better after the break either, particularly after the Hornets had conceded an awful second goal in the 51st minute when a poor Heurelho Gomes clearance was clipped back over the top by Walters and Joselu lobbed the stranded Hornets’ keeper.

It looked like the home side were destined to go a fourth successive Premier League game without scoring until the closing stages when Deeney headed in his tenth of the season after good work by substitute Ikechi Anya.

But the plain facts after recording a fourth successive top-flight win against Liverpool in December, the Hornets have taken only nine points from 39 available, scoring nine goals in the process.

Quique Sanchez Flores made four changes from the side that produced such an impressive display to beat Arsenal 2-1 last week to secure the Hornets’ place at Wembley in the FA Cup semi-finals.

Gomes, as expected, replaced Costel Pantilimon in goal, while there were returns for the fit-again Miguel Britos and Jose Manuel Jurado and Mario Suarez was also included. Sebastian Prodl, Watson and Adlene Guedioura dropped to the bench.

Mark Hughes was always going to have make changes following the 2-1 home defeat against Southampton last Saturday after revealing in the week Ryan Shawcross and Xherdan Shaqiri would miss out with back and thigh problems respectively. But Erik Pieters also missed out with a calf injury, while Mame Biram Diouf dropped to the bench as the Potters boss also made four changes.

A changed backline saw Phil Bardsley and Marc Muniesa come in along with Walters and Joselu further upfield.

After a rather scrappy opening the Hornets had the first semblance of an opening when Deeney dispossessed an opponent and set Odion Ighalo free. He took on and beat Philipp Woolscheid as he closed in on the Stoke penalty area, only to get his pass wrong when trying to find his captain to his right.

Watford continued to have the better of the early exchanges and their first attempt of the afternoon came in the ninth minute when a lovely touch from Deeney released his strike partner, who was eased a little to the right of goal by Wollscheid but Jack Butland still had to go to ground to save the Nigerian international’s shot.

Stoke’s first effort came when Marko Arnautovic had a shot blocked but the home side managed to deal with it after the ball threatened to break for Joselu, before some fine skill from the Spaniard saw him find Walters in space on the right side of the 18-yard box but his attempted pull back failed to pick out a teammate.

The visitors were having a good spell though, and in the 18th minute they made it count with a goal that was far from clever defensively from Watford’s perspective.

Giannelli Imbula was allowed to advance 30-plus yards on a cross-field run unchecked before finding Ibrahim Affelay, who slipped it to the right where the overlapping Phil Bardsley played a low first-time ball right across the six-yard box and Walters did what was required at the far stick to put Stoke a goal to the good.

Arnautovic then snatched a shot wide before an awful back pass from Allan Nyom almost presented the visitors’ top scorer with another chance, but Gomes had anticipated the situation and was able to clear.

Some quick feet from Jurado opened up a shooting opportunity at the other end but his attempted right-footed curler was deflected high and wide of the target.

Watford though, were struggling to get a foothold in midfield, with particularly Suarez finding it difficult to have a positive effect on the contest. Capoue and Jurado swapped sides with around half-an-hour gone in a bid to change their side’s fortunes, but Watford then got the benefit of an offside flag when Bardsley got the bounce from of a ricochet and darted into the right side of the area to cross for Arnautovic to fire post Gomes from close range. The assistant’s flag did go up immediately put replays showed the decision was a tight call.

Capoue picked up a needless yellow card four minutes before the break for kicking the ball away following a foul on Imbula, but soon after Watford had a good chance to equalise when some tenacity from Valon Behrami enabled him to find Ighalo and he in turn found Jurado, who advanced into the area but after setting himself fired over the top.

One yellow card soon became two when Nyom was punished after a foul on Arnautovic that led to the Austrian colliding with the advertising hoarding in front of the Sir Elton John Stand as the Hornets went into the break a goal behind and with plenty to think about.

The Hornets were straight on the front foot after the restart, winning a corner which ultimately led to Ighalo firing over from the edge of the box after Nathan Ake and Deeney had both contested headers.

But six minutes after the restart Watford’s task got even harder after they conceded a truly awful second goal. It originated from a poor Gomes clearance which only found Walters. He clipped it first time back over the top of the defence and Joselu calmly lobbed the ball over the Hornets’ keeper, who was stranded in no man’s land, to make it 2-0.

While Flores was preparing to bring on Guedioura and Nordin Amrabat, Stoke had another chance when Muniesa crossed from the left and Afellay’s downward header was dealt with by Gomes.

The double change did happen in the 55th minute as Jurado and Behrami, but Watford were in increasing danger of getting well beaten as a mistake by Capoue allowed Arnautovic to set up Afellay with a clear opening which he almost made the most of as Gomes had to go full length to his left to keep it out.

Although they were a distinct second best, Watford did have the opportunity to reduce the arrears in the 63rd minute when some good work by Amrabat saw him carry the ball forward around 40 yards before lifting a pass through to Ighalo, who was in on goal. However, the Hornets’ top scorer couldn’t take the ball in his stride and then slipped over.

Amrabat was adding some more bite to the home side’s attempts to score a first Premier League goal in four matches, but their opponents remained comfortably in command, although Butland did have to go to ground to save a shot from the Moroccan after Ighalo had laid the ball back to him on the edge of the area.

Walters was booked for a foul on Britos after 76 minutes, Anya replaced Ake before Craig Cathcart almost gift-wrapped a third for Stoke when his poor control left Arnautovic through on goal, only for the Austrian to scuff his finish at Gomes.

Suarez fired over from the edge of the area before Butland fumbled his attempts to claim a Guedioura free-kick, but was able to regain his ground to catch Deeney’s attempts to lob it back over the keeper.

After Guedioura had been booked for a foul on Joselu, Hughes made a double change as Diouf and Stephen Ireland came on for Afellay and Arnautovic.

But with five minutes of normal time remaining Watford gave themselves hope. After receiving the ball on the left, Anya teased Bardsley before getting half a yard on his man to get to the byline and dig out a cross which a stooping Deeney headed with enough power to get the better of Butland’s attempts to keep it out.

Four minutes of stoppage time afforded the home side further hope of getting back on terms but Stoke held firm to defend the Hornets’ efforts to get the ball forward and clinch a deserved win.

Watford: Gomes; Nyom, Cathcart, Britos, Ake (Anya 76); Behrami (Guedioura 55), Suarez, Capoue; Jurado (Amrabat 55), Deeney; Ighalo. Not used: Pantilimon, Prodl, Abdi, Watson.

Stoke City: Butland; Bardsley, Cameron, Wollscheid, Muniesa; Whelan, Imbula; Walters, Affelay (Diouf 83), Arnautovic (Ireland 83); Joselu. Not used: Haugaard, Adam, Teixeira, Crouch, Bojan.

Bookings: Capoue for dissent (41); Nyom for a foul on Arnautovic (45); Walters for a foul on Britos (76); Guedioura for a foul on Joselu (83).

Attendance: 20,759 (2,100 away fans).

Referee: Craig Pawson.