Ken Sema scored twice – including a heavily-deflected winner – as Watford beat West Bromwich Albion to move back into the Championship playoff spots. Slaven Bilic’s 200th game as a manager in English football could hardly have been more entertaining as his current club pipped the one he took up to the Premier League in 2020, and sacked him before the year was out. Ismaïla Sarr was also on target for Watford on a night when Conor Townsend and Jed Wallace were the scorers for Albion, who remain 10th. “It’s nice when it ends like this,” said Bilic. “We had so many spaces in the first half, especially on the left side. The only thing that wasn’t good in the first half was the result – we should have been 2-0 up. In the second half they had an extra man in midfield and we adjusted to it and showed great character, determination and quality – we deserved to win this game.” Watford opened the scoring with their first attack of note in the 23rd minute. Hamza Choudhury’s pass played Mario Gaspar in on the right side of the box and his cross was seized upon by Keinan Davis. West Brom goalkeeper, Josh Griffiths, got a hand to the striker’s partially-blocked shot on the turn but Sema was perfectly placed to blast home the loose ball from unmissable range. Ryan Porteous almost made it 2-0 soon after but the defender’s overhead kick dropped just wide. The visitors responded with a move that saw John Swift fire over from Wallace’s cross after the referee, Tim Robinson, had allowed play to continue when Wesley Hoedt felled Marc Albrighton. The Dutchman was subsequently booked. Carlos Corberán made a double change at the break, with Jayson Molumby and Grady Diangana replacing Nathaniel Chalobah and Albrighton, and a goal was coming for the visitors. Townsend was the man who scored it after Watford goalkeeper Daniel Bachmann had batted away a fine strike from Swift. Molumby appeared to have been pushed over from the corner that followed but the substitute still managed to get the ball to Townsend to flick home from close range. Watford almost regained the lead immediately when Sarr burst through only to see his shot hit a post. His next attempt put Watford back ahead, a simple finish on 66 minutes after Ismael Kone’s shot had bounce kindly into the 24-year-old’s path. The lead did not last long, though, as Bachmann’s pass to Choudhury was picked off by Molumby, who teed up Wallace for a simple finish. The goal stood even though Wallace had appeared marginally offside. Luck deserted West Brom in the 78th minute, however, when a Sema shot took a huge deflection off Erik Pieters to fox Griffiths and earn the hosts their first win in six games. “Ken is a very good player and a top player. He is a dream for any manager, he can cover four or five positions,” said Bilic of Sema. “We want him on the wing because it is not coincidence that we were struggling to score goals when he was out for two months. You want your key players on the pitch.” Corberán lamented his side’s failure to get a grip on the game in the first half. “We wasted the first 45 minutes when we didn’t play,” he said. “We didn’t have the commitment to play the game but in the second half it was the opposite. “We decided what we had to do – attack. But when you score one goal you have to protect what you have done. We didn’t show solidarity in defence.”