Barnsley 1-0 Watford: Alex Mowatt scores stunner in narrow win at Oakwell

Report and highlights from the Sky Bet Championship clash at Oakwell

Saturday 31 October 2020 18:47, UK

Barnsley made it two wins from two under new head coach Valerien Ismael as Alex Mowatt's stunning strike secured a 1-0 victory over Watford at Oakwell.

The Tykes took the lead after just six minutes courtesy of a screamer from captain Mowatt, whose effort from outside the box flew in off the inside of the post.

The home side were the only team to create any real chances in the first half.

With almost 20 minutes gone, a well-worked move saw Mowatt clip a ball over the top for Conor Chaplin to get on the end of. Chaplin cut the ball back to Dominik Frieser on the edge of the area, but his shot went well over the bar.

Less than 10 minutes later Barnsley fashioned themselves another chance.

Patrick Schmidt played in Callum Brittain down the right-hand side, and his cut-back to the edge of the area fell to Chaplin. The striker was on the stretch as he made contact with the ball, which meant his effort was weak and easy for Watford goalkeeper Ben Foster to collect.

Watford were unable to create any clear-cut opportunities in the first half. The Hornets looked to Ismaila Sarr throughout the half as their source of inspiration, but his end product in the final third was poor.

The visitors' best chance of the game came just a couple of minutes before the hour mark.

Sarr was again involved and on this occasion he managed to get by his man and drive towards goal from a narrow angle. His ball back found Tom Cleverley six yards out, but the midfielder fired his effort wide.

Just minutes later Barnsley should have made it 2-0. A wayward defensive clearance fell to substitute George Miller who found himself in on goal, yet he dragged his effort wide when he should have at least hit the target.

Watford had another glorious opportunity to level with just over 20 minutes to go.

A short corner routine led to Ken Sema swinging a cross in. Defender Ben Wilmot leapt well at the front post and angled his header downwards towards the far corner, but the power on it meant the ball bounced up and over the bar.

Watford continued to threaten the Barnsley goal throughout the second half, with Wilmot seeing another header from a corner miss the target.

What the managers said...

Barnsley's Valerien Ismael: "I'm very proud of the guys. It was a tough game against a very strong team today in Watford. The first half was perfect; we made the perfect start and did exactly what we wanted. We pressed high, won the ball in the opponent's half and got towards their goal quickly.

"We created a lot of good situations. Sometimes we had to adapt because of the way Watford played but we did well. The second half was a big fight, but we needed such a game to show we can adapt to the Championship and it's a good feeling today.

"We don't have the possibilities like Watford - when you see their roster, it is very wide. In every game we have to invest a lot of energy and today showed when we do that, we can beat anyone. This win will give us a lot of confidence and belief."

Watford's Vladimir Ivic: "We only started to play after the goal we conceded. We had more mobility maybe than in some previous games, but it still wasn't enough. We created the opportunities to score but we couldn't get the shots on target and because of that we are disappointed. We made a mistake and the guy from Barnsley scored a fantastic goal. We know that if we make mistakes then they will punish you.

"It's a game that didn't give us what we want but we need to rest now and think about the next game because it's on Wednesday and it will be tough. In this tough rhythm of games, it is most important that we rest the players and to understand that we must give more because we can give more, and we must start to win games again."