Joao Pedro ended Watford's 255-day famine without a home win to launch the Rob Edwards era in style.
Since November 20 last year – the day they put paid to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's reign at Manchester United – the Hornets had invented umpteen ways to lose football matches in front of their own fans, each usually more tragic than the last. But Pedro, the boy from Brazil whose sublime promise has often outweighed his end product, came up trumps with a winner as stylish as it was overdue.
Brave new dawns are two-a-penny at Watford, but none of head coach Edwards' 15 predecessors in the last 10 years inherited such an unholy mess. After losing 12 of their last 13 home games on a feckless tailspin through the Premier League drayman's hatch – the other was a 0-0 draw – the Hornets could scarcely do any worse.
Until this tenacious display, the only decent performances at Vicarage Road in 2022 had been former chairman Sir Elton John's concerts last month. No wonder Edwards milked the fans' applause and “sexy football” chant like a dairy maid on the final whistle and he said: “The reason we won was our spirit and commitment to work hard – that togetherness was really pleasing.
“It's been a long, long time since the fans enjoyed that kind of result at home, and it was an incredible atmosphere. It was a stylish winning goal and, yes, it was a bit sexy, that moment.”
Edwards has already won more points at home than former England manager Roy Hodgson, and the Hornets' opening endeavours on his watch were promising. Pedro had already been denied by Wes Foderingham's safe hands with a a close-range header from Ken Sema's cross before he swept home the winner after 56 minutes from Ismaila Sarr's low cross.
Blades manager Paul Heckingbottom was booked for his protest that referee Josh Smith had impeded John Fleck as he lined up a shot from the edge of the box before Watford's rapid counter-attack broke the deadlock. He had a point – Smith should have booked himself for obstruction – but United faded like your summer holiday tan and they didn't do enough to earn a point.
Iliman Ndiaye shot weakly at Daniel Bachmann after bursting into the box and the Austrian keeper's thrilling fingertip intervention denied Daniel Jebbison on the stroke of half-time. But the visitors' five substitutes made little headway and Heckingbottom admitted: “It's frustrating when you get done by a goal like that.
“We could have stopped it, but it doesn't happen without his (the referee's) involvement. Watford's front three are probably the best in the league and we knew the game would be about their threat on the counter, but overall I felt we defended pretty well.”
