Watford inflicted Wrexham’s first away defeat of the year with a 3-1 win to maintain their place in the Sky Bet Championship play-offs.
Goals from Marc Bola and Edo Kayembe took their toll on the Vicarage Road outfit and although Max Cleworth netted for the hosts, Edoardo Bove scored the Hornets’ first goal in added time.
The hosts made four changes following the defeat at Stoke. Mattie Pollock, Luca Kjerrumgaard, Nestory Irankunda and Pierre Ekwah join for their official debuts.
Wrexham made one change from their Welsh derby win over Swansea, with Ryan Longman replacing Issa Kabore.
The hosts created their first chance after five minutes when Kjerrumgaard headed wide of Bola’s cross from the left.
Watford got off to a bright start, with Giorgi Chakvetadze hitting the crossbar with a curled shot from the edge of the area in the 11th minute.
They took the lead after 18 minutes after a break in their own area, Chakvetadze running from his own half before backheeling Bola past Arthur Okonkwo.
The goal was controversial when Ollie Rathbone was dropped in the Watford area by a provider, but referee Adam Herczeg disallowed anything.
There was no question about Watford’s second goal of the evening, which came after 37 minutes. Irankunda’s break on the right found Kayembe in the middle. Kayembe was given too much space by the Wrexham backline to drive home just outside the area.
Irankunda almost became the scorer in first-half stoppage time when his effort volleyed wide of the goal.
Saba Goglichidze almost added a third just after the break when he headed in wide of Chakvetadze’s free-kick.
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Wrexham were protesting a penalty when Watford counter-attacked and Marc Bola’s shot was deflected to beat Arthur Okonkwo.
But Wrexham were given a lifeline in the game four minutes into the second half after Cleworth turned in a Rathbone corner.
As Wrexham looked for an equaliser, Pollock had to force a Dominic Hyam header over the line from a Lewis O’Brien corner.
With less than 10 minutes of normal time remaining, Watford had to rely on another clearance off the line, with Pollock denying Cleworth’s header.
After six minutes of added time were called, Wrexham pushed hard for an equalizer.
But the last word fell to Watford. Bola’s shot bounced off the crossbar and substitute Bove attempted the rebound.
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Watford’s Ed Steele:
“I’m delighted with the result, I’m delighted with the performance. It’s probably not fair to come from behind and only take points in the last two games.
“After turning things around so quickly after the Stoke game and seeing how the team and players learned their lessons, to deliver that performance this evening is a huge positive.
“As I said from the beginning, it is still a work in progress. There is definitely room for improvement.
“We did the simple things well – we didn’t get locked in like we did at Stoke – we kept finding free players.
“Bove’s goal was a brilliant touch. He deserved it. He will continue to grow and get better.”
Phil Parkinson of Wrexham:
“In the second half we pinned them,” he said. “We didn’t get counter-attacked and we definitely opened the team up until the end.
“We went all out in the second period and they were twitching on the pitch. “It’s a credit to the lads that they came back because Watford are a good team.
“I thought we were good in the second half but the ball wasn’t going our way and we felt we were coming close to get the second goal.
“We had really good control. In the first half we were patchy and made some technical mistakes. That took away from our game after the break.”
