Watford 2-0 Blackpool: Adeyemo and Sarr seal points on Taylor matchday

With the game goalless after 68 minutes on Graham Taylor Matchday, Slaven Bilic opted to bring on Yaser Asprilla and young Academy striker Tobi Adeyemo for his league debut. Four minutes later Asprilla was to send another youngster, Matheus Martins, away on the counter-attack, his shot was saved but Adeyemo converted the rebound. The goal was scored in the 72nd minute – the same age as Taylor when he died six years ago. The poignancy only added to the significance of the moment.

The Hornets were to add a second before the end when Ismaila Sarr converted a penalty after Martins had been taken out by keeper Chris Maxwell as the Hornets finished the game with seven players aged 21 or under on the pitch.

Until Adeyemo’s wonderful moment, Watford had been the better side but had struggled to create many good chances.

Sarr went close to making the breakthrough after four minutes when he hit the bar, but it took until early in the second half when Vakoun Bayo forced a good save out of Maxwell for the home side to really threaten again.

Having rested a number of senior players for last week’s FA Cup defeat at Reading, Bilic made the four hamstring-enforced changes from the team that started the 1-0 victory at Norwich City in their last league game.

New signing Ismael Kone made his home debut, Hamza Choudhury was fit to return and William Troost-Ekong and Bayo also started, with Christian Kabasele, Leandro Bacuna, Samuel Kalu and Kienan Davis sidelined Fellow new arrivals Joao Ferreira and Martins were among the substitutes that also included young strikers Jack Grieves and Adeyemo, fresh from making their first-team debuts off the bench in third round exit.

Blackpool came into the game buoyed by their superb FA Cup victory over Nottingham Forest last weekend, having failed to win any of their previous nine league games.

Boss Michael Appleton made two changes from their last Championship outing, a 1-1 draw with Sunderland, with Josh Bowler, having returned to the club on loan from Forest, and Morgan Rogers coming into the side.

The Hornets lined up in a 3-4-2-1 formation, with Sarr and Kone supporting Bayo, starting positively and almost taking the lead inside four minutes.

After Jeremy Ngakia had seen a shot deflected behind, Mario Gaspar took the corner from the right which Maxwell was unable to deal with under pressure from Troost-Ekong and the ball broke for Sarr, who tried to lift the ball into the net, only to see it hit the angle of post and bar.

Having gone close at one end, the Hornets conceded a free-kick in a dangerous position 25 yards out moments later. Bowler went more for power with his left-footed effort which Daniel Bachmann was always behind, although he needed two attempts to safely gather the ball.

The game settled down after a rather frenetic opening ten minutes, but the Hornets continued to control proceedings, patiently keeping possession and trying to create attacking openings when possible.

After Troost-Ekong had received treatment following a clash of heads, Watford looked like they might have an opportunity when a James Morris cross from the left was knocked down by Bayo in the 18-yard box but Marvin Ekpiteta stood his ground to prevent Sarr from getting an attempt on goal.

Kone tried a snap-shot from 25 yards as the contest ticked into the 35th minute, but it had increasingly degenerated as a spectacle, with both sides playing within themselves and rarely threatening in the opposition third.

That changed in the 39th minute though, when Watford suddenly sprang back into life after Choudhury had snapped into a tackle to win the ball back and Kone played the ball down the right side of the Seasiders’ defence to put Sarr away, but he was unable to find Bayo with his pull back.

The hosts had another opening soon after when Morris had space on the left side of the area to cross but Sarr was unable to get enough on his attempted flicked header.

Gaspar received the game’s first yellow card in the 42nd minute for a supposed foul on Rogers, a curious decision given referee Gavin Ward had let clearer candidates for a caution escape without reaching for his pocket beforehand.

It looked an even worse decision in injury time when Kone was taken out by James Husband, yet Ward deemed it worthy of no more than a talking to. Unsurprisingly, the referee left the pitch at the interval to a chorus of boos with Troost-Ekong firmly making his point in his ear.

It was to be Troost-Ekong’s last involvement in the match as, along with Jeremy Ngakia, he was to be taken off at the break and replaced new boys Ferreira and Martins.

Like the first half, Watford started the second period positively and went close to making the breakthrough a minute of the restart when Morris released Sarr down the left side of the area and his pull-back was fired goalwards by Bayo, but was kept out by the trailing leg of Maxwell.

The action soon switched to the other end where Choudhury made a fine sliding challenge to prevent Rogers from pulling the trigger after opening up a shooting opportunity on the left side of the area.

The Hornets created another opportunity when Sarr nutmegged an opponent before spreading playing out to Martins on the right and the Brazilian youngster laid the ball inside to Bayo, who in turn found Kone, but his side-footed effort from the edge of the penalty area was at a nice height for Maxwell to save.

Ferreira blotted his copybook on his debut with a booking in the 64th minute for preventing CJ Hamilton from trying to break away on the left.

Bilic then turned to youth again, bringing on Asprilla and Adeyemo for Choudhury and Bayo. It was to have an almost immediate impact.

After the Hornets had defended against a Seasiders attack, Asprilla received the ball in plenty of space and immediately the Hornets had a counter-attack on. The Colombian advanced before sliding in Martins who saw his effort repelled by Maxwell, but Adeyemo did very well as the ball went behind him but he was able to turn it into the net to score his first senior goal to put the Hornets in front. The timing of the goal – in the 72nd minute – just added to its significance.

Appleton immediately made his first change, bringing on Jerry Yates for Rogers, and soon after Ekpiteta, who was injured in trying to prevent the goal, had to be replaced by Rhys Williams.

Blackpool threatened an equaliser in the 77th minute when Hamilton pulled the ball back for Yates, but his goalbound effort was well blocked behind by the impressive Craig Cathcart.

There were loud appeals from the Rookery soon after when a Sarr run was curtailed by the visitors, but the referee was unmoved, and then the visitors made a third change as Andy Lyons replaced by Callum Campbell.

But Watford were awarded a penalty with four minutes of normal time remaining when Martins sought to latch on to a ball over the top and was clattered into by Maxwell. Ward immediately pointed to the spot and after booking the keeper, Sarr kept his composure to send Maxwell the wrong way and secure the points.

Shayne Lavery replaced Bowler as the game moved into six minutes of injury time and shot over from the edge of the area with his first meaningful involvement.

But injury time gave Bilic the opportunity to give another home debut to a youngster, Grieves, in place of Sarr as the Hornets made it back-to-back league wins at the start of 2023 on a memorable afternoon for their young players.

Watford: Bachmann; Troost-Ekong (Ferreira 46), Sierralta, Cathcart; Ngakia (Martins 46), Gaspar, Choudhury (Asprilla 68), Morris; Kone, Sarr (Grieves 90); Bayo (Adeyemo 68). Subs not used: Okoye, Pollock.

Blackpool: Maxwell; Connolly (Lyons 82), Ekpiteta (Williams 75), Thorniley, Husband; Bowler (Lavery 90), Carey, Patino, Hamilton; Madine, Rogers (Yates 72). Subs not used: Grimshaw, Dougall, Trybull.

Bookings: Gaspar for a foul on Rogers (42); Ferreira for a foul on Hamilton (64); Maxwell for a foul on Martins (86); Patino for a foul on Asprilla (89).

Referee: Gavin Ward.