A defeat always leaves a bitter taste in the mouth, especially if it’s rather unjust. This was the case for Watford on Sunday as the Hornets were made to pay for one individual error which resulted in the only goal in a tight affair.

The Hornets were certainly not anywhere near their best. But their performance merited at least a point as they kept the likes of Dwight Gayle, Yannick Bolasie and Bakary Sako fairly quiet and restricted Palace to few opportunities.

Many tipped this game to be an open and free-flowing encounter. In truth it was far from that. It was an even contest between two sides who had effectively cancelled each other out for large parts of the game.

Neither side was willing to give anything away but the Hornets were made to rue one individual error.

The mistake came from one of Watford’s most consistent performers this season. Allan Nyom was having another good game at right-back but he lunged in on the Eagles' livewire winger Wilfried Zaha inside the box with twenty minutes to play and referee Anthony Taylor had no hesitation in pointing to the spot.

What is it with Zaha winning penalties for Crystal Palace against Watford? Yohan Cabaye despatched the resultant spot kick and condemned Watford to their first home defeat.

The game showcased just how fine the margins are in the Premier League. The Hornets were made to pay for one silly mistake. The story could have easily been so different if Jose Jurado’s free-kick nestled into the top-corner instead of striking the crossbar.

Whilst Quique Sanchez Flores’ men arguably deserved a point from Sunday’s game, the Hornets weren’t at their best and one of the main problems from the early part of the season reared its ugly head.

Once again, Watford’s set pieces and crosses into the box were woeful. On many occasions, the set piece or cross into the box wouldn’t beat the first man, meaning a promising looking attack would breakdown and Palace could breathe a sigh of relief.

When we needed that bit of quality to give Troy Deeney and Odion Ighalo something to challenge for Watford came up short. The final ball or cross has been one of the Hornets downfalls all season.

I just felt against Palace that we needed that bit of quality in the final third. Palace had clearly done their homework as they man-marked Deeney and Ighalo out of the game.

It was up to the other Watford players to create that moment of magic that would carve open the Palace defence.

And, while the Hornets did have their moments, they couldn’t turn their possession into clear-cut chances and seemed reluctant to pull the trigger in promising positions.

The Hornets would get into excellent positions only to take too many touches on the ball, which gave Palace the chance to close those in Watford shirts down.

You may get the chance in the Championship to take an extra touch but the reality is you don’t get that time in the Premier League.

But yesterday's result was by no-means the end of the world. The Hornets are still a working progress and the tough lessons that they learned on Sunday will stand them in good stead for the rest of the season.

Roll on Bournemouth. 

Bradley Hayden is the founder and sole writer of @WatfordFCBlog.