SUPER SARR INSPIRES SIX OF THE BEST
XISCO Munoz hailed the depth of his Watford squad after they thrashed sorry Bristol City at Vicarage Road.
Munoz’s men put aside their recent dip in form to register an emphatic win that moved the Hornets to within six points of the automatic promotion places.
Ken Sema and Ismaila Sarr both scored twice, with Will Hughes and Philip Zinckernagel also on target.
The margin of victory was Watford’s biggest for six years and the clean sheet made it 14 shut-outs for the season.
Hornets boss Munoz rang the changes after a 0-0 draw with Coventry, with captain Troy Deeney left on the bench.
And he insisted the win was a reflection of the spirit within his squad.
“I think this is our team spirit, we need to continue with this,” Munoz said.
“We need to continue to understand all the players are important in our squad. I’m sure we will come back to some bad moments. This is true in football.
“The most important is continuing to work hard, staying together, and playing with this ambition.”
The rout started when Sarr drove to the by-line and tried to cut the ball back into the box, but a kind deflection looped it into the path of Sema, who was practically on the goal-line and simply couldn’t miss.
Watford made it 2-0 13 minutes later, with the visitors having only themselves to blame.
Zak Vyner’s misdirected back-pass allowed Tom Cleverley to steal possession. The midfielder then squared the ball for Sarr to smash in his first goal of the afternoon.
The hosts benefited from another slice of luck on the half-hour mark when Hughes’ long-range shot took a wicked deflection that carried it beyond the reach of Daniel Bentley, putting them firmly in control.
The fourth arrived promptly after when Kiko Femenia worked the ball to Sarr, who once again drove into the box before cutting it back to Sema, with the Swede powering in from the edge of the six-yard box.
There was no let-up for Dean Holden’s side after the restart and Sarr made it five just 10 minutes into the half.
Hughes’ pass was cut out by Han-Noah Massengo, but the ball was diverted into Sarr’s path. He burst through to the edge of the area and guided a shot beyond the keeper.
And Zinckernagel completed the win when he turned home from close range after a fine team move saw Sarr again turn provider.
Bristol City manager Holden branded his side’s performance as ‘unacceptable’.
“It’s a horrible day. It’s a feeling that sits right in your gut. And to lose 6-0 is unacceptable,” he said.
“We were outclassed by a far better opponent today. We showed too many lapses in concentration to go 3-0 down early in the game.
“Everybody is really on the floor and it’s a real bad day. And it’s a day as a player you’ll never forget. We have questions to answer now.
“We weren’t at our best with the ball or without the ball. We are lucky we have a game very quickly on Tuesday and we have to show a response.”