Watford move up to second in the Championship on goals scored after beating Reading

The fans honoured Nic Cruwys, who remains in a critical condition following the savage attack he was subjected to in Wolverhampton last Saturday, before and during the game and the Hornets players ensured they did their part by keeping pace on points with Bournemouth and Middlesbrough.

Slavisa Jokanovic’s men were comfortable in the first half from the moment Almen Abdi fired them into the lead after just 53 seconds with a clever finish after good work by Troy Deeney.

Abdi’s afternoon was to end early soon after through injury, but after Marco Motta had struck the bar, the Hornets doubled their advantage six minutes before the interval when Matej Vydra applied the finish to substitute Fernando Forestieri’s creativity.

Forestieri was heavily involved in the Hornets’ third as well, combining incisively with Vydra before setting up Deeney for the 100th league goal of his professional career.

Reading did get some joy in the 70th minute though, when substitute Jem Karacan guided a fine shot past Heurelho Gomes from distance after Vydra had mucked up his attempted clearance from a visitors’ corner.

That goal took the hosts down to third again but they moved back up to second five minutes from time when Forestieri emphatically fired past Andersen after being set up by Deeney.

With Tommie Hoban suspended following his late dismissal in the 2-2 draw at Wolves, Jokanovic was always going to have to make one change, but he ultimately decided on three, all of them in defence. Back came Motta, Joel Ekstrand and Daniel Pudil as Juan Carlos Paredes and Gabriele Angella dropped to the bench.

There was a boost elsewhere in the starting line-up for the Hornets as Abdi was fit to start, despite coming off early at Molineux with a hamstring problem, but top scorer Odion Ighalo remained on the sidelines.

With one eye very much on Monday’s FA Cup sixth round replay against Bradford City and a Wembley semi-final against Arsenal at stake, Reading boss Steve Clarke was always likely to make changes. He decided on nine with Jake Cooper and Hope Akpan the only two players to keep their place from the side that beat Brighton 2-1 in midweek.

That meant Zat Knight made his debut after signing for the Royals this week following his trial at Vicarage Road, while former Hornet Jure Travner also started.

The Hornets would have been looking to make a strong start in their pursuit of an automatic promotion place and that is exactly what they did, taking the lead from their first attack inside the opening minute with a lovely worked goal.

The hosts worked the ball around the left and centre of the Reading 18-yard box before Deeney was challenged with his back to goal. However, the Hornets skipper showed superb desire and ability to win the ball back and work it to Abdi, who curled a shot with the outside of his right foot beyond Mikkel Andersen to make it 1-0.

Within seven minutes though, Abdi’s game was to end prematurely again – presumably with a recurrence of the same injury he suffered at Wolves – and he was replaced by Forestieri.

The substitute’s first meaningful involvement was to almost create Watford’s second goal, although much didn’t seem to be on when he switched the ball across to Motta from left to right. However, the Italian cleverly lifted the ball over an opponent before hitting a dipping half-volley from 20 yards that beat Andersen but crashed back off the crossbar before Vydra’s powerfully struck follow-up was deflected behind.

Forestieri had the Hornets’ next effort in the 14th minute, shooting behind from the edge of the area after checking back inside when a pass out to the overlapping Motta may have proved more productive.

Watford continued to look comfortable and confident when in possession, without seeking to drive home their advantage too much in the next ten minutes. They might have been made to pay when Ben Watson conceded a free-kick 25 yards from his own goal but instead of going for the target, Danny Guthrie tried to pick out a teammate and the danger was cleared.

After Gomes had gone to ground to routinely field an off-target shot from Yakubu, Watford almost doubled their lead in fine fashion in the 28th minute.

Adlene Guedioura was given all the time in the world to pick his spot with a cross from the right and when the ball did come in, Forestieri met it with an acrobatic right-footed volley that bounced down into the ground before it was superbly clawed away by Andersen.

After a tame Yakubu effort from a free-kick in another good position had failed to trouble Gomes, Forestieri had the Hornets’ next effort but he fired wide from the edge of the 18-yard box.

But the substitute’s next contribution was to be more incisive, showing good close control in the area before slipping the ball through to Vydra, who lifted his close-range finish high to Andersen’s left to double the hosts’ advantage in the 39th minute.

With Watford in relative cruise control as half time approached, emotion came to the fore in the 44th minute when Vicarage Road stood as one, including the Reading fans, for a minute’s applause in honour of Nic.

Watford needed one more goal to move above Middlesbrough, who had beaten Ipswich Town 4-1 earlier in the day, on goals scored and that arrived within four minutes of the restart when the Hornets’ talismanic skipper netted the 100th league goal of his career.

The creation of it was delightful; Forestieri retaining possession on the right before laying the ball inside to Vydra, who played a first-time pass to set his teammate away into space in the area. Having reached the byline, Forestieri played the ball into the near post where Deeney arrived to net his fifth in as many games and make it 3-0.

Forestieri fired at Andersen from 20 yards soon after before Jokanovic opted to make a second change after 58 minutes as Miguel Layun came on for Guedioura.

Clarke followed suit with a double change for the Royals a minute later, with Karacan and Nick Blackman replaced Jake Taylor and Simon Cox respectively.

Gomes had been largelly a spectator for the second half but he did have to make a fine save in the 69th minute, arching his back to tip over a header from Niall Keown following a Royals corner.

From the resultant set piece though, the Hornets did not escape punishment as Vydra made a hash of an attempted clearance and Karacan guided a fine 25-yard effort beyond the best efforts of Gomes and into the bottom right-hand corner to make it 3-1 and send the Hornets down to third in the table again.

That goal offered the visitors encouragement and they started to push on some more, with the Hornets looking a little uncertain as a Blackman shot was blocked before Yakubu hit a tame effort at Gomes.

Angella replaced Vydra with seven minutes of normal time remaining and two minutes later the Hornets had a fourth and were back up to second in the table.

The goal again owed much to the perseverance of Deeney, closing a man down and winning the ball back before lifting it over his own head to set Forestieri away and the striker didn’t need a second invitation, rifling a shot across Andersen to cap a strong individual display with a deserved goal.

Andrija Novakovich was already preparing to come on before the goal was scored and he replaced Knight as the Hornets went looking for a fifth in the closing stages.

Forestieri had a shot blocked, Ben Watson saw a long-range effort held by Andersen before Deeney almost found the top corner with a right-footed curler as Watford moved back into the top two for the first time since the start of November.

Watford: Gomes; Motta, Cathcart, Ekstrand, Pudil; Guedioura (Layun 58), Tozser, Watson; Abdi (Forestieri 7); Vydra (Angella 83), Deeney. Not used: Bond, Doyley, Paredes, Anya.

Reading: Andersen; Cooper, Knight (Novakovich (85), Keown; Stacey, Taylor (Karacan 59), Guthrie, Akpan, Travner; Cox (Blackman 59), Yakubu. Not used: Lincoln, Long, Kuhl, Edwards.

Bookings: None.

Attendance: 16,660 (1,008 away).

Referee: Darren Bond.