Watford FC picked up their fifth victory in a row yesterday afternoon with a comfortable 3-0 win over Birmingham City at Vicarage Road thanks to goals from Ken Sema, Nathaniel Chalobah and Andre Gray.
The result sees the Hornets move six points ahead of the play-off positions and has dramatically improved their chances of making an instant return to the Premier League, after last season’s relegation on the final day.
Manager Xisco Munoz made two changes to the side that beat Rotherham in mid-week, bringing in Dan Gosling and Isaac Success for the injured Ismaila Sarr and Philip Zinckernagel.
The Hornets got off to the perfect start after just four minutes when Joao Pedro’s strike was well saved by Neil Etheridge, but Ken Sema was at hand to tap home the rebound from close range.
Birmingham City almost equalised on the 25th minute after Bela looked destined to score, but Chalobah miraculously blocked his effort to deny him.
Dan Gosling, who grabbed his first Watford goal during the week, almost found another when he was in acres of space in the penalty area, but he couldn’t quite direct his header goal bound.
The Hornets did however double their lead 10 minutes into the second half after Gosling’s corner found Chalobah in space, and the captain made no mistake in heading the ball beyond Etheridge and into the net.
Gray was brought into the action with 10 minutes left on the clock and he made an instant impact as he was played through by fellow substitute Jeremy Ngakia, and he slotted the ball under Etheridge to put the game beyond any doubt.
The result means Watford have taken a massive step towards potentially securing automatic promotion, with some clear daylight now being between Brentford and Swansea, however both of those sides do have a game in hand over the Hornets.
Watford go into the international break in the best form they’ve been in all season, with nine victories in their last 10 outings. They host Sheffield Wednesday at Vicarage Road in their next game, on April 2.
Picture credit Watford FC
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