West Bromwich beat Watford 1-0 in the Championship's fifth round of matches on Saturday at the Hawthorns. J. Morgan scored the decisive goal in the thirty-sixth minute, giving the hosts a narrow victory over their visitors. The result keeps West Bromwich fifth in the table with ten points from five games, while Watford remain eighteenth with just five.
Martin Payero saw yellow in the sixteenth minute, and J. Morgan picked up a booking before his own goal three minutes later. Watford's Ousmane Diakite went off-side in the thirty-sixth minute for a card. Jordan Zemura came off for Watford in the forty-fifth, and Albert Eames was replaced in the fifty-ninth. The second half brought more changes, with West Bromwich bringing on Rabby Nzingoula and Aune Heggebo in the seventy-third, and Chris Mepham replaced by J. Morgan in the eighty-second.
There were late cards on both sides. Nathaniel Phillips and Harry Whitwell went off in the eighty-eighth and eighty-ninth minutes. Isaac Price and Iker Bravo picked up yellow cards in the ninety-fifth minute.
West Bromwich had 51 per cent possession and 87 attacks compared to Watford's 83. They took four shots on target, while Watford managed two. Expected goals stood at 1.14 for the hosts and 1.26 for the visitors. Watford created four big chances against West Bromwich's two, but the visitors' shot accuracy of 18 per cent tells you they did not trouble the goalkeeper enough.
West Bromwich's win moves them further clear of the drop zone, while Watford's position in the bottom half looks increasingly precarious. They had the better expected goals figure but could not find the net. By then the pattern was already set.
