Sheffield Wednesday vs Watford. Sky Bet Championship.
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Report and free match highlights from the Sky Bet Championship match between Sheffield Wednesday and Watford at Hillsborough on Saturday; Vakoun Bayo scored four as Tom Cleverley's Hornets seal emphatic away victory.
Saturday 2 November 2024 19:26, UK
Four second-half goals from Vakoun Bayo gave Watford a stunning 6-2 victory over Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough.
Michael Smith quickly cancelled out Ryan Porteous' opener before penalties from Tom Ince and Bayo put Watford in the driving seat.
Bayo bagged his second and claimed the match ball either side of Pol Valentin's reply for the Owls and then claimed his fourth in the closing stages.
Wednesday boss Danny Rohl made eight changes to the side that lost on penalties to Brentford in the Carabao Cup, with skipper Barry Bannan and top-scorer Josh Windass returning to the starting XI.
Watford head coach Tom Cleverley made a couple of switches from the 1-0 win at home to Blackburn, with Pierre Dwomoh making his first start and Bayo coming in.
The hosts started on top with Di'Shon Bernard going close with a header twice in quick succession, first from Marvin Johnson's cross from the left and then from Shea Charles' free-kick from the right.
Smith nearly found himself on the end of a low cross but Hornets skipper Daniel Bachmann got down well to intercept.
Watford had their first chance when Bayo set up Yasser Larouci but he blazed his shot over the bar.
The visitors did take the lead in the 29th minute after Kwadwo Baah drove to the byline and cut back for Porteous to smash past keeper James Beadle.
Wednesday equalised five minutes later when Johnson's cross was met by Smith and his volley wrong-footed the Watford keeper.
The Owls nearly went ahead after Smith flicked round the corner but Windass was denied by some brave keeping by Bachmann.
Watford restored their lead after 52 minutes when Bernard handled from a cross and referee Sam Allison pointed to the spot, Ince stepping up and sending Beadle the wrong way.
The Hornets were awarded another penalty when Dominic Iorfa tangled with Bayo, who slotted home in the 58th minute and that was the start of a second-half onslaught from the Ivorian.
Bayo got his second after 67 minutes when he headed in Giorgi Chakvetadze's cross from the right of the penalty area.
Wednesday got one back in the 82nd minute as two substitutes combined. Jamal Lowe crossed in from the left and Valentin arrived at the back post to volley home.
Any hope of a comeback was shortlived as Bayo beat the offside trap and calmly chipped Beadle to give Watford their fifth and his third minutes later.
Bayo helped himself to his fourth in the 88th minute when he tapped home from Larouci's low cross.
Sheffield Wednesday's Danny Rohl:
"The players and I have a mixed feeling of shock and disappointment because we've improved so much in our last few games.
"In the first half we were in a good way, we moved the ball well and created lots of chances.
"I think if you asked the crowd at half-time they would have said they were happy with the performance. I was convinced we could go on and win.
"There were just six minutes between the two penalties which really knocked us back. We tried to get men forward but we lost our structure when we tried to come back into the game.
"We have never had 45 minutes of football like we had today. Watford had seven shots on target and scored six goals which for me is very hard to take.
"We allowed them to show their individual talent in the second half and we allowed so many easy situations against us which I find really disappointing.
"We are struggling to get results at home whether we perform well or not and of course we will work our hardest to change this.
"It's difficult but we can't get stuck on today. We will recover in the next days and then we have another tough game against Norwich on Tuesday."
Watford's Tom Cleverley:
"Bayo fully deserved his four goals. I couldn't be more pleased for an individual; his unselfish play doesn't generate the most praise but we really appreciate it.
"We want to create a mentality where we're confident we can deal with big expectations and compete at the right end of the table.
"It's not been as shocking as it may look on paper with our away form this year. We've just had three really poor performances in a tough run of games.
"The fans have travelled in their numbers again and they really deserve it. We've had some bad away results and hopefully after today we can move on from those.
"We'll recover from today and get back to work. We're pleased with the win but now we've got to go to Swansea on Tuesday and back it up."
