Are Luton Town destined for another relegation?
Watford 2 - 0 Luton Town
Watford put an end to a miserable run of five straight home defeats with a convincing win over struggling Luton Town in the M1 derby at Vicarage Road.
Tom Dele-Bashiru opened the scoring from the penalty spot after Mamadou Doumbia was brought down, before Edo Kayembe doubled the lead with a simple tap-in.
Luton, who had won just once in their last 26 away games across two seasons, failed to register a single meaningful shot on target in the first half. Manager Matt Bloomfield is still searching for his first victory since taking charge in mid-January.
Despite a winter transfer window overhaul, his squad remains a work in progress, with some players still adjusting to English football and others making the step up from League One, just as Bloomfield himself has. He had hoped for a quick turnaround, but that has yet to materialise.
The win lifts Watford to ninth in the Championship, just three points off the play-off places, while Luton remain rock bottom, five points from safety with only 12 games to go.
It took the Hatters a decade and four promotions to climb from non-league football to the Premier League, but they now face the alarming prospect of back-to-back relegations after last season’s drop from the top flight.
A closer look at what happened and why it happened
Centre-forward Carlton Morris returned to the starting XI after recovering from illness, while Watford made two changes—Tom Ince replacing the injured Moussa Sissoko and Jeremy Ngakia coming in at right-back. Vakoun Bayo, back from a three-match ban, had to settle for a place on the bench.
Ngakia was booked early on for a reckless challenge on Lasse Nordas, which a stricter referee than Andrew Kitchen might have deemed a red. Luton started the brighter of the two sides, dominating the opening 10 minutes, but their momentum was cut short when Mads Andersen misjudged a pass back to goalkeeper Thomas Kaminski, who ended up bringing down Doumbia in the box.
Dele-Bashiru coolly slotted home his fourth goal of the season from the penalty spot. Moments later, Imran Louza almost made it two after working space on the edge of the box, but his left-footed strike was straight at Kaminski.
The second goal wasn’t far off, though. Giorgi Chakvetadze left Andersen trailing on the left, skipped past a desperate challenge from Amari’i Bell, and squared the ball to Kayembe, who couldn’t miss from two yards out.
All eyes were on Bloomfield, who left Wycombe and their promotion charge to take on the Luton job, but his side lacked inspiration. Watford, meanwhile, continued to look the more dangerous, with Georgian playmaker Chakvetadze causing problems every time he got on the ball.
