Slaven Bilic praises two-goal hero Joao Pedro as Watford see off Huddersfield

Posted Sunday, December 18, 2022 by PA

Slaven Bilic praised two-goal hero Joao Pedro after Watford eased to a 2-0 win at bottom side Huddersfield to climb to third in the Championship table.

The problems for Mark Fotheringham’s Terriers are of a different kind as the defeat leaves them stuck at the bottom of the table, seven points from safety.

Bilic admitted of Pedro, who scored goals at either end of the second half: “He’s this kind of player, the way he’s improving on a weekly basis. The game-changers are always the ones who are deciding the game.

“Pedro, if you talk about him, it is sometimes scary when you know he is only 21. To play so consistently at that high a level, it is great for us.

“He is good in the air. When the keeper is hitting a long ball, he is winning those balls, he is doing well in the midfield.”

Bilic admitted Huddersfield caused his team problems in the first half.

He added: “I must give them credit for the first 25 minutes. We weren’t able to get the ball and keep the ball. After that, it was a performance with everything.

“The decisions were good but we were just missing the target. We should have put this game to bed earlier. But in the end winning 2-0, (we recorded) a fourth clean sheet in a row.”

Keinan Davis had seen strong appeals for a penalty turned down before Pedro wasted the best chance of the first half as he steered a low cross past the post.

He made no mistake nine minutes into the second period when he was set up by a strong run from Tom Dele-Bashiru and turned his defender both ways before beating Lee Nicholls from eight yards.

With four minutes remaining, Pedro wrapped up the points with a header from a Ken Sema corner.

Huddersfield rarely troubled Watford goalkeeper Daniel Bachmann and their best chances came from Sorba Thomas corners, Josh Ruffels and Michal Helik both failing to find the target with headers in the first half and Jack Rudoni heading at Bachmann in the second.

Fotheringham felt his players failed to handle the important moments, particularly in the second half.

He said: “We wanted to bring a better performance. I thought we started really aggressive – on the front foot.

“We never really handled the big moments in the game which was disappointing.

“As a young head coach I am very proud of my players (for their effort).

“In the next few weeks we are coming up against teams around us in the table and we have got to get something from those games.”

Fotheringham admitted he would not look to make signings in the January transfer window because of a lack of funds.

He added: “We have got to continue to work hard and we need to keep building on this good team spirit we have got.

“We looked at Watford and they didn’t really create much but it was more their class players who finished their chances.

“All I can do is put my arm around these players.

“The fans are coming here, it’s freezing cold, they get excited by the first-half performance then they get deflated. I understand the fans’ frustration.”