HORNETS BACK UP
Watford show they are Sarr too good for Championship
XISCO MUNOZ did not have to join fans partying in the pond on the High Street to be baptised after Watford’s stunning surge to promotion.
Saturday night’s all right for fountains, as celebrity Hornets cheerleader and former chairman Sir Elton John once informed us.
But as Munoz led Watford back to the Premier League at the first time of asking – after just 24 games in charge – his players drenched their boss with as much beer as they could find.
It is customary, in this corner of Hertfordshire, to celebrate promotion by getting your feet wet in the pond opposite the Town Hall.
And on a perfect afternoon for dipping your toes in a municipal water feature, top scorer Ismaila Sarr’s early penalty against Millwall was just enough to seal a return to the top flight.
Munoz, who has banked an astonishing 54 points from 24 games since he replaced Vladimir Ivic at Christmas, said: “Normally beer is for drinking but some of my players used it to give me a shower – and it was an amazing feeling.
“I was very emotional at the end because I had a lot of thoughts going through my head – this was a day for the fans, the players, all the staff who work behind me and, of course, my family. It has been very hard at times because I have not seen my kids for six months.
“But I have to say thank you to my players – sometimes they gave blood and worked so hard to come up with solutions in every game.
“And I hope the fans enjoy the moment. I have a good connection with them on social media and they deserve to celebrate.
“Normally I would let my players have one beer after a win, but tonight I may let them have five.”
Munoz, 40, is not even fully qualified as a coach – but he has begun the process of taking his Pro Licence and will be allowed to take charge of the Hornets in the top flight next season.
Watford have not hung around in the Championship for long.
With an astonishing 56 points collected at Vicarage Road alone, they have the best home record in the country. And the pond explorers could not have wished for a better start as Sarr – the most fouled player in the division – was chopped down in the box by Billy Mitchell.
The flying Senegal winger picked himself off the deck to score his 13th goal of the season from the spot after 11 minutes.
Mitchell almost made amends for his rash challenge by forcing a brilliant save from home keeper Daniel Bachmann before the break.
And the Austrian, who has kept 14 clean sheets in 22 games since replacing the injured Ben Foster in January, had to scramble to keep out Maikel Kieftenbeld’s deflected header.
Millwall were nobody’s mugs, and manager Gary Rowett said: “We gave away a silly penalty and looked as if we felt sorry for ourselves for 20 minutes.
“After that, we were excellent and I thought we were the better side – but good luck to Watford, they have Premier League quality.”
WATFORD: Bachmann 8; Femenia 6 (Cathcart (31st) 6), Troost-Ekong
6, Sierralta 6, Masina 7; Cleverley 6 (Sanchez 84th), Hughes 6, Gosling 6 (Chalobah (60th) 7); Sarr 8, Pedro 5 (Gray (60th) 6), Sema 6
MILLWALL: Bialkowski 6; Romeo 6, Evans 7, Cooper 7; McNamara
7 (Muller 78th), Kieftenbeld 6, Mitchell 6 (Williams (71st) 6), Bennett
5 (Burey 81st), Malone 7 (Mahoney 77th); J.Wallace 7, Bradshaw 6 (Zohore (70th) 5)
STAR MAN: Ismaila Sarr
REF: D Whitestone