Watford 1-0 Barnsley – ‘Beyond the yellow brick road…’

Another day, another home win for Watford, as the Hornets defeated Barnsley 1-0 last night to avenge their loss at Oakwell back in October.

Watford are now comfortably the best home team in the Championship, slice it in anyway you like, the numbers tell the story.

They have ten wins in 13, seven points more at home than any other team in the division, and new manager Xisco has three wins from three at Vicarage Road without conceding a goal.

Ranking nearly as high in the predictability stakes was the nature of Watford’s goal, a penalty scored by captain Troy Deeney. Deeney has now scored five times in the league this season and four of them have been from the spot.

All of these penalties seem to have been violently blasted straight down the middle, with manager Xisco joking post game that he wouldn’t even put one of his own keepers in the way of a Deeney’ spot kick.

Last night’s game was a tight affair, pitting Barnsley’s high defensive line and intensity, against Watford’s ability to move the ball with quality into the front and exploit the spaces behind the Tykes wingbacks.

 The goal came from the first bit of incisive play Watford mustered, the ball moved slickly from right to left, and Deeney’s cross hit the arm of Callum Brittain.

Brittain tried to argue that the ball had ricocheted from his knee to his arm, referee Robinson presumably responded that his arm was in an unnatural position. 

Watford had the better of the remaining openings on goal. Andre Gray, who is very much in need of goal, was thwarted twice by Barnsley keeper Jack Walton’s ability to quickly move from his line and close down.

Perhaps a fully confident striker would’ve been a split second earlier on both occasions. In the second half William Troost-Ekong should have made it two from a recycled set play, but his close range effort trickled wide of the post.  

The closest Barnsley came was when centre back Sierralta threw himself at a teasing left footed cross from Alex Mowatt. With the ball flying towards the goal Daniel Bachmann pulled off a good save.

In the final seconds of stoppage time Cauley Woodrow went down on the right of the penalty box, a second penalty of the night was not given, and Watford took the points.

Barnsley manager Valerian Ismael complained post match that we need to know better where we stand in respect of the ever evolving standard for what is, and isn’t a handball.

He does of course have a point, but will know deep down that his side just fell short against a Watford squad fresh from the Premier League and able to make their extra quality count in a tight game.

The issue for Watford moving is fairly simple. If the home form continues at even close to the current rate, then even a small improvement away from home will likely see them move from their current spot in third, into the automatic positions.

In keeping with honorary president Elton John’s famous lyrical claim that his future lay ‘beyond the yellow brick road’, Watford’s immediate future and success resoundingly lies beyond Vicarage Road.

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