Watford ´rose to the challenge´ in derby defeat of lowly Luton

Tom Cleverley said Watford more than met the challenge after they defeated Luton Town 2-0 in Sunday’s derby clash.

Watford cruised to a home victory that took them to within three points of the play-off places in the Championship.

Tom Dele-Bashiru opened the scoring with an 11th-minute penalty at Vicarage Road, where Edo Kayembe put the hosts further ahead.

Kayembe’s goal was brilliantly teed up by Giorgi Chakvetadze, and a 2-0 lead was the least Watford deserved in a first half in which they created chances worth 2.05 expected goals (xG).

“I think for a team that has maybe not got on the front foot so much this season, I thought the first half today was comfortably our best first-half performance,” said Cleverley.

“We were first to every second ball, we were winning every duel and we were running past players – all parts of the game that Luton are good at.

DOMINANT IN THE DERBY! pic.twitter.com/VFViIjdj2R

— Watford Football Club (@WatfordFC) February 23, 2025

“I thought we really rose to the challenge and then we managed to guide the game the way we wanted it to be played.

“We got the ball down, played through the lines and created chances. I couldn’t be more pleased with the performance.”

Beleaguered Luton, meanwhile, are facing the prospect of two relegations in the space of two seasons.

This defeat leaves the Hatters, who were in the Premier League last term, rooted to the foot of the Championship on 28 points, five adrift of safety.

Watford, meanwhile, snapped a run of five straight home defeats in the league.

Cleverley added: “I’m still too early in my coaching career to be complacent about things like mindset, and I felt like the approach we took this week of not making the game anything else but the chance to win three points was the right way.

“They used that energy around the stadium in a positive way.”