| Watford 1 v 2 Ipswich Town SkyBet Championship Tuesday, 12th December 2023 Kick-off 19:45 |  |
Watford 1-2 Ipswich Town - Match Report Tuesday, 12th Dec 2023 21:47 Town returned to the top of the Championship after the Blues came from a goal down to win 2-1 at Watford, skipper Sam Morsy netting the winner 10 minutes from time. Yaser Asprilla gave Watford the lead in the 12th minute but George Hirst levelled for the Blues on 24 before Morsy seized on an error by Hornets captain Wesley Hoedt to claim all three points and climb above Leicester City, who aren’t in action until tomorrow, and move 10 ahead of Leeds in third following their 1-0 defeat at Sunderland. Town boss Kieran McKenna made five changes from the team which won 2-0 at Middlesbrough on Saturday. As expected, Massimo Luongo and Brandon Williams returned to the XI following their suspensions with Jack Taylor and Harry Clarke dropping to the bench. Axel Tuanzebe came in for Luke Woolfenden, who was also among the subs, at the centre of the defence. Omari Hutchinson and Marcus Harness replaced Wes Burns and Nathan Broadhead on the left and right of the three with the latter duo also on the bench. Skipper Sam Morsy started, despite being on nine bookings with a 10th leading to a two-match ban ahead of the Norwich and Leeds matches. For Watford, former Blues loanee Jake Livermore returned to the side having missed the weekend 1-1 draw at Southampton due to a knee problem with Francisco Sierralta switching to the bench. There was a change to the scheduled referee from David Coote to Darren England, the official at the centre of the VAR error in the Tottenham-Liverpool game in September. Heavy rain had been falling before the match and continued as it got under way with Blues sponsor Ed Sheeran and former Hornets chairman Elton John watching from the stands. The home side created the first moment of potential danger in the third minute, Ken Sema crossing from the left and Mileta Rajovic looping a header wide. After a cagey spell, the Blues threatened for the first time in the 10th minute, a well-worked move ending with Williams crossing to Harness, whose header failed to test Ben Hamer in the Watford goal. A minute later, the Hornets took the lead. Town keeper Vaclav Hladky played an uncharacteristically poor pass to Yaser Asprilla on the right of the area when trying to find Cameron Burgess. The Colombian international squared to Rajovic, Hladky saved the striker’s shot but the ball bounced out to Asprilla on the right of the area from where he smashed the ball through a crowd of Town players into the net. Despite having gone behind, the Blues began to take control the game and on 19 Harness left a Leif Davis ball from the left and Conor Chaplin struck a shot but it was too close to Hamer, who claimed. Within a minute, the Hornets had gone close at the other end, Livermore heading back across goal and wide from a corner, the ball evidently catching a Town player as referee England awarded another flag-kick. But Town had been the better side since the goal and levelled in the 24th minute. Hirst nodded down to Harness, who swept the ball wide to Hutchinson. The on-loan Chelsea man hit a shot which deflected to Hamer’s right and although the keeper saved, he was only able to palm it into the path of Hirst, who stroked his sixth goal of the season over the line from close range. Three minutes later, Jamal Lewis turned a Sema cross from the left wide as the home side looked to quickly restore their lead. On 29, Sema sent over another dangerous ball from the left which Davis and Asprilla battled for beyond the far post, the Watford man sending the ball back across the face and wide. A minute later, Edo Kayembe bizarrely sent the ball floating over his own bar and against the stanchion from 20 yards under pressure from Luongo, referee England awarding a free-kick against the Australian international. Hutchinson had been Town’s biggest threat and the forward went close to putting the Blues in the lead on 31, curling a shot from the right of the area just beyond the far post. Two minutes later, Hirst nodded down to Harness not far outside the area and the former Portsmouth man hit a snapshot which Hamer saved down to his left, not entirely comfortably. Town had the ball in the net for the second time, Hirst heading home from a Davis free-kick on the left but with referee England having blown up for a foul very early as the ball came over. Moments later, Chaplin was shown the first yellow card of the evening for a foul on Sema as Watford broke inside their own half. As the half moved into its final five minutes, Watford put the Blues under a spell of pressure, Ryan Andrews shooting well over from not far outside the area. In the final scheduled minute, Hirst joined Chaplin in the book for catching Ryan Porteous with an arm as they challenged for an aerial ball, although replays suggested it was more head to arm than the other way around. Seconds before the whistle, Hladky missed a free-kick as it came over from the left but the ball was too long. The half-time scoreline was a fair reflection with both sides having had spells on top, although with Town having presented perhaps the greater threat, mainly through Hutchinson cutting into the area on the right. The Watford goal came from a rare Blues error when passing out from the back, the wet conditions perhaps playing a role, but Town played themselves more into the game and an equaliser had been on the cards when it came. Town swapped Williams, who had been given a tough first half by Sema, for Harry Clarke ahead of the second half. Within a minute of the restart, Kayembe was booked for fouling Hutchinson as the wideman burst forward towards the Watford half. On 53, after a spell where the ball just wouldn’t fall for a Town player in and around the box, Luongo was booked for a foul on Ismael Kone as the Hornets looked to break out of their final third. Three minutes, later Sema struck a cross-shot from the left which caught a Blues defender and flashed across the six-yard box and wide. As the game reached the hour mark, Town were beginning to get on top, Davis sending over a cross which skipper Hoedt nodded behind at the far post. From the corner, the Blues almost levelled, Hirst slamming against the post through a crowd of players after the near-post flag-kick had dropped loose to him in the six-yard box to the right of goal. On 66, Sema played a clever pass for Lewis down the left and the on-loan Newcastle man broke into the area and hit a shot which the advancing Hladky diverted wide. From the resultant corner, a header was flicked wide. Both sides made changes ahead of the restart. Watford replaced Rajovic and Asprilla for Tom Ince and Vakoun Bayo. The Blues swapped Hirst, Chaplin and Harness for Freddie Ladapo, Burns and Broadhead. In the 74th minute, Hamer came out of his area to deal with a Burgess ball from deep with his chest but appeared to forget Ladapo’s presence and was dispossessed by the striker, but the Town sub’s attempted overhead kick came to nothing. Watford were next to threaten, Kone shooting powerfully over from 20 yards after a sharp move. The game was beginning to become more open, a Burns cross at one end came to nothing following a strong Clarke run, then at the other, Watford saw a couple of efforts at goal blocked. Clear-cut chances had been far and few between throughout the second half but on 80 the Blues were handed a gift and skipper Morsy gleefully accepted it. Kayembe played a pass back to Hoedt on the edge of the Watford box, the home skipper took a poor touch and his Town opposite number seized on it, took it into the area and confidently slipped his second goal of the season past Hamer right in front of the ecstatic Town supporters. Watford looked to get back on terms and on 84 won a corner from which Bayo caught Clarke a nasty blow in the face as he tried an overhead kick. Clarke was OK to continue after treatment, while Bayo was booked. In the penultimate scheduled minute, Hutchinson was yellow-carded for waving an imaginary card after Andrews had kicked the ball away in frustration ahead of a Town throw. Four minutes were added on with the Blues seeing out the final period of the game professionally and without any panic. Referee England’s whistle signalled a huge roar from the 2,000-plus Town support, the Blues having recorded their seventh away win of the season, a result which moves them above Leicester, who host Millwall tomorrow. Leeds losing 1-0 at Sunderland sees the third-placed Whites drop to 10 points behind Town. It was a tight second half which looked destined to end in a draw until Morsy made the most of Hoedt’s error and then took the opportunity with the confidence of a seasoned centre forward, right in front of the Town support, much like Richard Chaplow’s even later winning goal on the Blues’ last visit in 2015. Town have won their last three games against the Hornets for the first time ever. The result - as well as the lack of a 10th booking for Morsy - is an ideal way for Town to go into Saturday’s East Anglian derby against Norwich City at Portman Road. Watford: Hamer, Hoedt (c), Porteous, Lewis, Livermore, Rajovic (Ince 67), Kone, Sema (Martins 82), Asprilla (Bayo 67), Kayembe (Healey 82), Andrews. Unused: Bachmann, Sierralta, Pollock, Chakvetadze, Dele-Bashiru. Town: Hladky, Williams (Clarke 46), Tuanzebe, Burgess, Davis, Morsy (c), Luongo, Hutchinson, Chaplin (Burns 68), Harness (Broadhead 68), Hirst (Ladapo 68). Unused: Walton, Woolfenden, Taylor, Jackson, Scarlett. Referee: Darren England (Doncaster).
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