Slaven Bilic delighted with Watford form after comeback win at Cardiff

Posted Thursday, November 03, 2022 by PA

Watford boss Slaven Bilic was delighted to see his side make it three wins in a row with a 2-1 comeback win at Cardiff that moved them up into the play-off places.

Francisco Sierralta and Ismaila Sarr headed home the goals that saw Watford home after Cedric Kipre had headed in a ninth-minute corner for the Bluebirds.

It was a fifth win in eight games under new boss Bilic.

“I’m pleased with the three points, I’m pleased with the character shown by my side and I’m pleased we scored two goals – but we should be scoring more goals,” said Bilic.

“What was missing was a cutting edge. In this kind of display we have to create many more chances with the quality we have up front. Today that was lacking.

“Great three points, great win, but we started sloppy, nowhere near what we wanted. We gave them a goal with a free header and we weren’t good.

“After 20 minutes we started to play and we were dominant. We were switching sides with good moves and we were there all the time. We scored two unusual goals for us, but we showed character, spirit and determination.

“It was a great away win against a good team, but I don’t remember a clear-cut chance from us. I watched Cardiff against Blackpool and in another couple of games and I told my players that they would be facing the best team we have met so far.

“Tonight, they weren’t like that, they were a little bit heavy. They weren’t so aggressive, perhaps because they scored the goal, and I told the guys we had to kill the game off.

“We needed our goalkeeper to make a couple of good saves. We should have scored more goals considering the amount of time we spent in their half.”

Bluebirds boss Mark Hudson was disappointed with the nature of the goals conceded.

“The most disappointing thing is that for all their individual quality, we conceded from two corners,” he said.

“I was pleased we created the chances we did, we put them under pressure and then they had a good spell. But we were brave in the second half and showed we can take it to top teams.

“They’ve got individual quality, but they didn’t hurt us from that. They hurt us from our own mistakes.

“The team showed a willingness to fight and a creative side, but there were two disappointing moments. If we hadn’t conceded from those two set-plays we might have got more from the game.”