Millwall – Fortunebets

Watford have secured promotion to the Premier League after a 1-0 win over Millwall on Saturday.

Watford were relegated to the Championship last season but have secured an immediate return, with Ismaila Sarr’s penalty kick enough to see off Millwall at Vicarage Road.

Xisco Munoz’s side have been in superb form in 2021, winning 16 of their 23 Championship matches this calendar year.

Bournemouth’s home defeat to Brentford on Saturday meant that Watford needed only a draw against Millwall to secure promotion to the Premier League.

They did better than that, with Sarr’s goal from the penalty spot — his thirteenth in the Championship this season — enough to earn Watford their ninth win in eleven games and a return to the top flight.

Vladimir Ivic was appointed in the summer to instil discipline and organisation but the football brought little job, despite Watford grinding out results. He was sacked after just four months in the role, having won nine of 20 Championship games, with Watford fifth in the table.

Enter Xisco. The Spaniard did not bring much managerial experience when he arrived from Dinamo Tbilisi, but he did bring energy and motivation. Watford won four of his first five matches in charge and have been in fine form ever since a goalless draw with Coventry in February marked three league games without a win.

Watford hammered Bristol City 6-0 at Vicarage Road in their very next match and haven’t looked back since.

Sarr, a target for numerous Premier League clubs last summer, has been superb — while Tom Cleverley has led by example with veteran captain Troy Deeney missing for long periods.

Fans at Millwall’s home game against Derby booed when players took a knee before the game to support the league’s anti-racism message on Saturday.

It is the first time since March that the Den has hosted fans after crowds were banned as a precaution during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Derby forward Colin Kazim-Richards, who is Black, described the booing as an “absolute disgrace” in a tweet after the match where he expressed pride in taking a stand against racism.

“Having to say this is a pain,” Kazim-Richards said. “But I’ll say it every single damn time this is why I STAND and STAND PROUD and I have to say every single person involved with [Derby] did too.”

He added that it “made me proud to wear this shirt with the boys today!!!”

The English Football Association condemned the actions of the fans in a statement.

“The FA supports all players and staff that wish to take a stand against discrimination in a respectful manner, which includes taking of the knee, and strongly condemns the behaviours of any spectators that actively voice their opposition to such activities,” the statement said.

Some fans had called for the players not to take a knee before the game but Millwall had released a statement on Friday affirming their commitment to fighting racism.

As a squad we are fully supportive of the entire football family’s efforts in ridding the sport, and society generally, of all forms of discrimination,” the statement said.

“The gesture of taking the knee before matches provides an opportunity for us to do exactly that and continues to allow all those playing to publicly showcase their support — on behalf of the whole squad — for the fight against discrimination.

“We wish to make clear that taking the knee, for us, is in no way representative of any agreement with political messaging or ideology. It is purely about tackling discrimination, as has been the case throughout.

“We will continue to do this until the start of the New Year when a new and comprehensive anti-discrimination strategy will be announced by the club.”

Coronavirus regulations in England mean that only 2,000 local fans are allowed to attend games with no away fans permitted to travel.

Footballers in England have been taking a knee before games since football returned in June following protests in the United States over the death of George Floyd in police custody.