Report and highlights from the Sky Bet Championship clash between Watford and Bristol City at Vicarage Road as the clinical Hornets romped to victory thanks to a Tom Moore own goal, Ismaila Sarr (2), Will Hughes, Ken Sema and Philip Zinckernagel.
Saturday 13 February 2021 19:14, UK
Ismaila Sarr struck twice as Watford inflicted a crushing 6-0 defeat on Bristol City at Vicarage Road to get their promotion challenge back on track.
Xisco Munoz's side came into this game without a win and having scored just once in their previous three league games.
But they returned to form in stunning style, racing into a four-goal half-time lead before cruising to the comfortable victory that tightened their grip on fourth place in the Sky Bet Championship and moved them to within six points of the automatic promotion places.
The margin of victory was Watford's biggest for six years and the clean sheet made it 14 shut-outs for the season.
A second-minute own-goal from Taylor Moore gave the Hornets an early lead before Sarr, Will Hughes and Ken Sema effectively killed off the game before the break.
Sarr and Philip Zinckernagel then wrapped up the win to maintain Watford's outstanding home form and condemn Dean Holden's visitors to a fourth successive league defeat.
City lie in mid-table and a miserable afternoon was summed up by the fact they were forced to wait until the 82nd minute before registering a shot on target.
Sema immediately carved open the Robins defence and, when he pulled the ball back in one of the game's first attacks, Moore diverted into his own goal.
The visitors had only themselves to blame when they faced a two-goal deficit with just 15 minutes gone.
This time is was Zak Vyner's misdirected back-pass that allowed Watford midfielder Tom Cleverley to steal possession and set up Sarr for the winger's first goal of the afternoon.
The home side benefited from a slice of luck when they extended their lead 15 minutes later, with Hughes' shot taking a deflection as it flew over goalkeeper Daniel Bentley.
And Sarr turned provider when he set up Sema 10 minutes before the break, with the Swede applying a composed finish for his first league goal of the season.
There was no let-up for Holden's side after the restart and Sarr emphasised the gulf between the teams with a curling 55th-minute shot that flew beyond Bentley to take his season tally to seven goals.
And Zinckernagel completed the win after appearing as a 61st-minute substitute when he turned home from close range with Sarr again the provider.
Watford's Xisco Munoz: "I think this is our team spirit, we need to continue with this. We need to continue to understand that 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. Of course, today we will enjoy, we will drink one beer at home, sure. But after 20 minutes we think about the next game."
Bristol City's Dean Holden: "It's a horrible day for everyone connected. It's a feeling that sits right in your gut. And to lose 6-0 is unacceptable. 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. And then it's a tough ask from there.
"Everybody is really on the floor and it's a really bad day. And it's a day as a player you'll never forget. It's the sort of result everybody will look at and we have questions to answer now. There is no doubt the Premier League teams from last season have huge depth in their squads. But that's not the reason we lost 6-0 today. 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."
