Michael Duff rues disallowed goal in Watford defeat

Swansea City head coach Michael Duff was left ruing the decision to chalk off Kristian Pedersen’s second-half header after seeing his side suffer a 1-0 defeat against Watford at the Swansea.com Stadium.

Defender Pedersen thought he had given the Swans a 70th-minute lead against the Hornets when he powered home a header from a Matt Grimes corner.

But the officials adjudged there had been a foul by a Swansea player in the box, and Watford would snatch victory when Ken Sema sent a thunderous strike into the top corner with eight minutes remaining.

The hosts had other chances, with Grimes twice going close from distance, while Daniel Bachmann made two fine late saves to deny Harry Darling.

Swans boss Duff admitted his side had not been at their best, but was frustrated by the manner in which a potential winner was chalked off.

“They have told us there is a foul, although I am not sure where the foul is,” said Duff.

“There is nothing obvious, especially when you think of the commotion you see in penalty areas now.

“It’s a big moment in the game, ultimately, and it has cost us.

“I think if we score the first goal we win, because it was that type of game. We’ve then conceded on a transition.

“We had a lot of the ball, but we huffed and puffed a little bit, we could not quite open them up but we had enough chances to get something out of the game.

“We actually started off quite well, we pressed and got on the front foot and got high up the pitch.

“It was just a lack of quality that cost us, but it should have been a draw and that’s the frustration.”