Flores struggles to accept late loss to Man City

Watford manager Quique Sanchez Flores rued a set-piece lapse as his team suffered a dramatic 2-1 Premier League defeat to Manchester City.

Following a draw at Chelsea and a last-gasp loss to Tottenham over the festive period, Watford seemed to set to return to winning ways at Vicarage Road after City full-back Aleksandar Kolarov headed Ben Watson's 55th-minute corner into his own net.

But Yaya Toure was allowed room to crash home an unstoppable volley from Kolarov's 82nd-minute corner and the hosts again found themselves victim to a late winner when Sergio Aguero guided home Bacary Sagna's cross two minutes later.

Despite showing understandable disappointment, Flores reserved praise for his players and Watson in particular, telling BBC Sport. "It was very difficult to accept.

"We played really well but we lost our concentration on a set-piece and gave them the opportunity to come back. I'm really pleased with our performance.

"Against very big teams we have been unlucky. Every time we have been close to positive results. It's very difficult to explain to the players why we haven't won today - we did everything good.

"Ben Watson was perfect. Today is a very sad, the players deserved more.

"Four months ago when we played Manchester City [a 2-0 defeat at the Etihad Stadium], we played to protect the team and not concede a lot of goals, but today we played to win the match."

Flores' men still remain on course for a mid-table finish this season, however, with the side ninth in the table after 20 games played.