Tag Archives: Dec26

26th December 2025- Championship, Leicester City 1 Watford 2

Watford Observer: Watford training on Christmas Day ahead of packed fixture schedule, reveals Alleyne

Match Wrap: Leicester City 1-2 Watford – Watford FC Download

Watford Observer: MATCHDAY RECAP: Leicester City 1-2 Watford

Match Report: Pollock heads winner as Watford secure impressive 2-1 win at Leicester

‘Really happy for players, staff and supporters’ – Gracia on Leicester win

Kyprianou hails Chakvetadze quality after ‘big’ Leicester win

BBC: Othmane Maamma’s delightful strike sparked a stylish fightback as Watford moved to the verge of the Championship play-off spots with victory over faltering Leicester City.

Sky: Imran Louza played a starring role with two assists as Watford came from behind to win 2-1 at Leicester and claim back-to-back victories for the first time this season in the Sky Bet Championship.

Fran’s Watford Blog: It had been a very impressive performance. It was a shame that we had to concede another early goal, but the rest of the game had been mostly Watford, and we had played some very good football. A number of excellent moves were spoiled by poor finishing, but you have to create the chances to miss them and eventually some will go in. It was a great team performance, but there were some stars. Louza had a great game with assists for both the goals. I am glad that he gave his Mum something to celebrate on her birthday. Maamma was again impressive, his goal was a thing of beauty. Mattie Pollock had another solid game and could have scored two goals, I was so glad that he grabbed the winner. Chakvetadze is getting back to his best, scurrying around, fighting for everything. And Ngakia continued his recent good form causing problems for the opposition in both boxes.

26th December 2024- Championship, Watford 2 Portsmouth 1

WFC.net goal commentary: 1 2

Report: Watford 2-1 Portsmouth – Watford FC Download

BBC: Rocco Vata’s 95th-minute winner earned Watford victory over Portsmouth in a controversial match at Vicarage Road.

Sky: Zak Swanson fired Pompey ahead early on but Edo Kayembe cancelled that out via a second-half spot-kick Portsmouth were adamant should not have been given. Substitute Rocco Vata then tapped home in stoppage time to complete the comeback.

Watford’s Kwadwo Baah sees red for goading Portsmouth with Fortnite emote!

Watford Observer: RECAP: Watford 2 Portsmouth 1

Watford 2 Portsmouth 1 minute-by-minute report

Cleverley advises Mousinho to ‘look at his own behaviour’

Communications equipment issue caused penalty delay

Vata glorious way to secure a rare victory on Boxing Day

BHappy: Sissoko has proven to be anything other than a calming influence in such situations and as he lined up to come on himself with three minutes of normal time left it seemed likely that he’d either kill someone or score the winner. In the end he didn’t quite do either, but would play a key role in the decisive goal which involved three of the substitutes. In the fifth and final minute of added time with a disappointing-but-OK-in-the-circumstances-I-suppose point on the cards, Dan Bachmann humped a final long clearance, Vakoun Bayo – who enjoyed a spiky cameo himself – did brilliantly to control and flick on for Sissoko to run onto...

Fran’s Watford Blog:…his shot was closed down, but the ball rebounded to Vata who found the net, sparking manic celebrations in the home stands. I think the expression is “limbs” and it was an accurate description as we all leaped around hugging each other. I nearly fell into another row of seats on more than one occasion. The players’ celebration was equally mad, and it appears that Vata does smile.

From the Rookery End: After the bonkers end to Watford’s 2-1 Boxing Day home win, Jon and Jason, as they walked away from the ground, had a quick chat about the game and the players that made an impact on the result.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/live/c1lnql8lngnt#Tables

26th December 2023- Championship, Watford 1 Bristol City 4

WFC.Net Jon Marks’ Goal Commentary: 1

https://www.watfordfc.com/match-report/match-report-watford-1-4-bristol-city

Sky: The hosts just could not stop losing the ball in midfield and Manning’s men cashed in with a strike from Cameron Pring and an own goal from Wesley Hoedt to lead at the break.

BBC: Half-time substitute Giorgi Chakvetadze made an immediate impact, pulling a goal back for Watford four minutes after the interval. But Mark Sykes scored a minute later and Andreas Weimann capped a resounding Robins victory by adding a late fourth.

Watford Observer: RECAP: Watford 1 Bristol City 4

The ghosts of home games past return to haunt Watford this Christmas

‘We gave the game away from the first minute’ – Ismael

Watford haven’t enjoyed a half-time lead for eight games

‘We need to work on being more stable and calm in possession of the ball’

Lewis looks set to be out until mid-January

Fran’s Watford Blog: It was a very disappointing showing from the Hornets who struggled to keep hold of the ball and couldn’t control the opposition. Too often, passes were misplaced or just aimed for a space that was only ever going to be taken up by an opposition player. Andrews had one of the poorest games that I have seen from him and Asprilla seemed very reluctant to take on the defenders, so their faltering partnership was exploited by City. It is hard to pick out a good performance although I thought that Healey did well in a game in which he was allowed to make more than his usual cameo appearance. But the positive that I will take out of the game is that the heads never dropped, and the players continued to attack right to the end, even if it was largely ineffective. I was pleased that more than one of the people that I spoke to after the game questioned the booing. I don’t think that the players deserved that after their recent performances. But it was another disappointing Boxing Day. Let us hope that this is just a blip, and we return to winning ways on Friday.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/67756822

26th December 2022- Championship, Watford 0 Millwall 2

Attendance: 20,204

BBC Sport: Andreas Voglsammer scored his first goal in English football to set Millwall on the road to a vital victory over Watford in their fight for a Championship play-off place.

Sky Sports: The home side were reduced to 10 men in the 38th minute when Hassane Kamara was sent off but they were comprehensively outplayed on their own turf.

BHappy: The first half was a one-sided farce. Daniel Bachmann, for all that he almost gave an opening goal away with a sloppy clearance before redeeming himself by throwing himself across goal to block Bradshaw’s resultant shot, kept us in the game with a number of brave stops, none better than a reaction save to deny Voglsammer after yet another Cooper knock-down. By that stage however we were already a goal down after a rare Cathcart error contributed to Bradshaw setting up Voglsammer to stroke past Bachmann. “That had been coming”, said everyone in the stadium.

Fran’s Watford Blog: There was then a long break in play after João Pedro was fouled by Saville and seemed to slip as he went down. After treatment on the field, he limped off the pitch and was sat on the sideline while his ankle was strapped up. In the meantime, the Hornets won a corner, the delivery from Sema was met by Ngakia whose header was straight at Long in the Millwall goal. While João Pedro was being treated, Asprilla had stripped and was ready to come on, but the Brazilian returned to the field even though he was limping heavily. It didn’t look like there was any chance that he could run it off, so it was no surprise when he went down again. He was clearly distraught as he left the pitch to be replaced by Asprilla. Losing our best player was pretty upsetting, but Christmas was properly ruined soon after when Kamara chased a ball in the Millwall box and collided with the goalkeeper. An altercation with McNamara followed, Kamara lashed out and the referee showed a straight red. It was an utterly stupid thing to do and there was no sympathetic applause as he left the pitch, instead he received a smattering of boos.

26th December 2020- Championship, Watford 1 Norwich City 0

BBC Sport: Ismaila Sarr got new Watford head coach Xisco Munoz off to the perfect start with a winning goal that ended Championship leaders Norwich City’s five-game winning run.

Sky Sports: Just a few minutes before the break, Watford took advantage. Ken Sema darted to the left-hand byline and pulled the ball back across the face of goal to the far post, where Sarr timed his run to perfection, sneaked past Jacob Sorensen and tucked the opener past stranded Norwich goalkeeper Michael McGovern.

BHappy: Xisco Muñoz hits the right notes straight away, even if he does come across a bit Joey Tribbiani. Positive, energetic. likeable. Watford supporters should long since be immune to What Other People Think, in particular that sort of guffawing sub-pub bore nonsense churned out by Chris Sutton on 5 Live. There are concerns in his lack of managerial experience of course, but then the likes of Boothroyd and Rodgers came in with comparable experience and both did alright for themselves with us and elsewhere, in different ways. It’s unlikely that the Pozzos picked his name out of a hat after all.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/55373502

26th December 2019- Premier League, Sheffield United 1 Watford 1

Referee: David Coote
Attendance: 30,222

1-0

Watford off the bottom with draw at Sheffield United

Ben Foster saves help Watford draw with Sheffield United

Nigel Pearson praises Ben Foster after Watford draw with Sheffield United

Watford players rated after draw with Sheffield United

Images from Watford’s draw at Sheffield United

Nigel Pearson says he has renewed hope his Watford side can avoid relegation after they moved off the foot of the Premier League table with a draw at Sheffield United.

Pearson praises Hornets for ‘digging deep’ to earn draw

Blades couldn’t find final bit of quality – Wilder

Gerard Deulofeu had given Nigel Pearson’s newly-buoyed side a 27th-minute lead against the run of play, before Oliver Norwood’s spot-kick (36) restored deserved parity for the hosts.

Gerard Deulofeu’s first‑half strike was vital but the heroics of Foster at the other end were equally important. Foster’s form has been a rare highlight throughout a largely miserable season and fittingly his magnificent saves – the pick a sensational point-blank effort to deny John Fleck – ensured their upturn in form continued.

Four days since Manchester United but a very different challenge… the two United’s might occupy similar areas of the table but there’s a world of difference between a vaunted side that’s less than the sum of its parts and a less glamorous opponent fully exploiting theirs, even if it leaves them in the same place.