Watford’s perfect start to the Championship season came to an abrupt halt as they suffered a narrow 1-0 defeat at Sheffield United, and manager Tom Cleverly had no complaints.
The Hornets were left to rue an unfortunate early own goal from Daniel Bachmann, who inadvertently deflected the ball into his own net within the opening two minutes, giving the Blades an early advantage.
Bachmann, however, redeemed himself shortly after when he denied Kieffer Moore from the penalty spot. The spot-kick was awarded after Yasser Larouci fouled Ollie Arblaster, but Watford’s keeper guessed correctly, diving low to his left to keep his side in the contest.
Watford’s best chance to level the score came in the second half when Ryan Andrews struck the post with a powerful effort from outside the box. The visitors pushed hard for an equaliser, with Daniel Jebbison making his debut against his former club in the hope of turning the tide.
Despite their efforts, Sheffield United looked more likely to extend their lead, with Moore missing a golden opportunity to seal the game late on, his one-on-one attempt foiled again by Bachmann.
Tensions ran high after some robust challenges, but the Blades managed to hold on for a victory that ended Watford’s unbeaten run and secured their first home league win in months. Watford, meanwhile, will look to bounce back quickly after their first setback of the campaign.
“I think it was a fair result,” said Watford boss Tom Cleverly. “We made a really poor start again, we need to address that. You don’t create a gameplan to start 1-0 down. Second-half we had no rhythm. We need to be better at trying to be patient and focusing on no technical mistakes.”
His side had previously scored eight in three matches as they hunt a Premier League return, but the former Manchester United player admitted his side didn’t deserve to score after failing to finish the few chances they did create.
“We created some good situations without being as clinical as we have been. We couldn’t find that killer instinct and I’m struggling to put my finger on why. We went out with a little bit of a whimper.”
The result leaves the Hornets buzzing around the top three, only three points behind early leaders Sunderland. As for the Blades, they’re beginning to look up the table after a challenging opening three fixtures. They’re unbeaten following relegation but have now won two and drawn two of their fixtures.
Writer’s View
There’s no doubt that this would be a six-pointer if it had happened a little later in the season. Both of these sides will be around the top six by the end of the campaign, and for the Blades to take the points, it will be a boost.
There’s a good argument for getting these promotion clashes out of the way early because the pressure of the game can often contribute to mistakes later in the season. That said, you might think the intensity to get forward would have increased if it were April, not September.
Either way, it as a narrow victory, and while it will disappoint Watford, it also gets the unbeaten run out of the way. Sometimes, streaks and runs can be damaging as they put a target on a team, making them more of a scalp. Sunderland may find that out in the coming weeks!
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