Sheffield United kicked off their Sky Bet Championship season with a 1-0 defeat against fellow promotion hopefuls Watford at Vicarage Road.
Watford started the encounter brightly and nearly opened the scoring before the five minute mark. Lively attacker Emmanuel Dennis skipped past George Baldock before slipping through Ismaila Sarr. Faced with a narrowing angle, the Senegal international could only find the side-netting.
New Blades signing Ciaran Clark was booked in the 14th minute for a cynical trip on Dennis to prevent a Watford breakaway.
United mustered their first attempt on the Hornets’ goal just before the 20 minute mark, with Sander Berge’s deflected strike landing safely in the arms of Bachmann from just outside the area.
Adversaries John Fleck and Francisco Sierrialta were both carded by referee Joshua Smith after a skirmish started by a Tom Cleverley foul on Blades frontman Iliman Ndiaye. Fleck then escaped punishment from Smith as the official saw no issue with a potential infringement on Dennis in the penalty area after 25 minutes.
Ten minutes later, Paul Heckingbottom’s men forced their first real opening as Ndiaye shrugged off his marker and found a way into the penalty area. Unfortunately for United, the lively striker could only side-foot his shot straight at Bachmann.
Watford’s best moment of the half arrived shortly before the break when Swedish wing-back Ken Sema forged a yard on the left-hand side. His floated delivery was met by the head of Joao Pedro but his effort was held well by Foderingham.
As injury time loomed United went close as Jebbison’s looping right-footed curling shot was tipped over the crossbar by the hosts’ goalkeeper.
The second period began with feisty tackles from both sides but no clear goalmouth action to speak of. Immediately after Max Lowe replaced the injured Enda Stevens in the 54th minute, Watford seized upon a loose United corner. On the break, Sarr squared the ball from the right to Joao Pedro who duly slotted the ball through the legs of Foderingham. Debate raged as to whether Sarr may have been offside in the build-up but the goal stood.
The electric pace of Dennis and Sarr frequently troubled the Blades’ rear-guard, with multiple combinations of United defenders failing to contend with the duo supporting Pedro in Watford’s attack.
Bolstered by the introduction of Reda Khadra and later their perennial talisman Billy Sharp with twelve minutes to go, United began to commit more players to attack in search of an equaliser.
John Egan glanced a header narrowly wide from a Fleck set piece in the final ten minutes although chances were at a premium otherwise, thanks to a solid Watford back line. The hosts held on for a deserved three points.
The Blades return to Bramall Lane on Saturday, where they host Millwall in a 3pm kickoff.
UNITED: Foderingham, Clark (Osborn 68′), Egan, Stevens (Lowe 55′); Baldock, Fleck, Norwood (Khadra 68′), Norrington-Davies, Berge, Jebbison (Brewster 68′), Ndiaye (Sharp 78′).
Elsewhere this weekend rivals Sheffield Wednesday began their Sky Bet League One promotion bid with a pulsating 3-3 draw against Portsmouth at Hillsborough.
A left-footed strike by the versatile Marvin Johnson gave the Owls the lead at half time, although Pompey would bring the scores level just after the interval through Connor Ogilvie’s headed effort.
Almost immediately after the restart, energetic midfielder Fisayo Dele-Bashiru would restore Wednesday’s advantage with an audacious 30-yard strike which caught the visiting goalkeeper unawares.
However, the clash would be flipped on its head within 12 minutes, as Michael Jacobs and Colby Bishop capitalised on poor Wednesday defending to give the Blues the advantage.
The hosts would salvage a point through another fierce Dele-Bashiru effort from just inside the penalty area to ensure the spoils were shared on the opening day, before striker Lee Gregory was sent off late on for a second bookable offence.
Elsewhere in South Yorkshire, Rotherham began life back in the Championship with a credible draw at home to Swansea City whilst Barnsley were re-introduced to the third tier with a 1-0 defeat at Plymouth Argyle. Doncaster Rovers started their League Two campaign with a goalless draw at fellow Yorkshire side Bradford City.