Watford maintains unblemished start to the Championship, draws 1-1 with Birmingham
Watford’s unblemished start to the Sky Bet Championship season was preserved with a 1-1 draw against Birmingham City at St. Andrew’s thanks to Rey Manaj’s first magic touch in Hornets colors.
👀 The crucial touch…
A first Watford goal for Rey Manaj! 🇦🇱⚽️ pic.twitter.com/2f89ydf0n2
— Watford Football Club (@WatfordFC) August 17, 2022
The Hornets, who were playing without the injured Ismaila Sarr, were unable to capitalize on any of their opportunities, and which led to George Hall scoring the first goal of the match. After little under 20 minutes of play, Hall put the finishing touch on a brilliant move that was started by former Golden Boy Troy Deeney to give John Eustace’s Blues the lead, which was perhaps against the flow of play at the time.
Ken Sema scored an equalizer in the second half, but the visitors wasted the opportunity to move to the top of the Championship table. Watford produced early chances, with Yaser Asprilla and Christian Kabasele firing off target from long range. The next player to come close was Vakoun Bayo, who missed the goal with a free header from Joao Pedro’s cross and then hit the post when Craig Cathcart headed Sema’s corner back into the danger area.
For the sixth time in their history, the Hornets have avoided loss in each of their first four league games in a second-tier season, and they will go to Preston North End on Saturday [August 20] with eight points from a possible 12.
Rob Edwards admits to being “a little frustrated” following the 1-1 draw against Birmingham City, believing Watford produced enough opportunities to win the game.
“The overriding feeling is we're pleased, but we want to keep improving.” 📈
Rob Edwards discussed the key talking points from our draw at Birmingham City. pic.twitter.com/wktb1GnNSI
— Watford Football Club (@WatfordFC) August 17, 2022
Watford boss Rob Edwards told reporters :
“I’m pleased with the performance. I asked the players to have a bit more control which I think we showed. I thought we were brave with the ball.
“Any time when you come away on a Tuesday night and go 1-0 down, to get a point you have to respect that because no-one’s going to hand you anything in this game, nevermind in this league.
“But I do think on the balance of chances and the control that we had that we probably should have won.
“I don’t think anyone should expect us to be the finished article after a few games, we have a lot to do. But the good thing is we know we have a lot to do, and we’re picking up results.”
LOVEEEEE ITTTTT!!!!! pic.twitter.com/AKHM5rsfZV
— Birmingham City FC (@BCFC) August 16, 2022
Birmingham’s John Eustace stated :
“George has been exceptional since I’ve been here. He’s a top young player and he’s going to have a massive future. He took his goal really well. He was up against fantastic players but he stood up to the plate and I was very pleased for him.
“He’s been brilliant since we came in during pre-season. We’ve given him the confidence that these young players are going to play.”