Watford saw off a spirited challenge by West Bromwich Albion to pull out a 3-2 victory at Vicarage Road to move into the EFL Championship play-off places.

The Baggies twice rallied from a one-goal deficit but were undone by a Ken Sema shot that deflected off of Erik Pieters, the goal and result leaving them 10th in the table, six points off the play-off spots.

Sema put the Hornets in front on 23 minutes, firing high into the net from close range after Keinan Davis' initial effort was blocked by Darnell Furlong.

Conor Townsend, one of two second-half substitutes by West Brom, rose up in the box to acrobatically hook past Daniel Bachmann to level.

Ismaila Sarr gave the hosts the lead again, beating Josh Griffiths with a first-time finish only to see Jed Wallace pounce on a poor pass by Bachmann to make it 2-2.

Sema then won it by cutting in from the right and his shot from the edge of the box caromed off Pieters and into the back of the net was ex-Baggies boss Slaven Bilic got the best of his old side.

Watford ended a five-game winless run to move into fifth as they prepare for a trip to second-place Sheffield United on Saturday while West Brom looks to turn things around against Middlesbrough.

Story of the match

Watford were given an early opportunity as Davis was fouled and from the resulting free-kick, Sema picked out Ismael Kone with a dink, but he was only able to head across goal after being pressured by Furlong.

It was the hosts who were enjoying much of the ball, especially in the center of the park as Hamza Choudhury and Konate were dictating play and at the other end Ryan Porteous saw off danger from Brandon Thomas-Asante and Wallace.

Thomas-Asante had the first clear-cut opportunity 12 minutes later, as following a delightful cross from Marc Albrighton, he diverted a header off-target.

The Hornets then opened the scoring as Mario Gaspar made a blazing run down the right to find Davis in the 18-yard box, his shot denied by Furlong and Griffiths only to see Sema finish at the back post.

Sarr gave himself some space to shoot, but a wild effort was well off-target and at the other end, West Brom broke on the counter with John Swift going close.

As the first half drew to a close, Griffiths saved from Davis from a tight angle while one-on-one and the former England youth international couldn't connect with his head while having a lot of space.

The visitors made a double change at the interval, Grady Diangana and Jayson Molumby being introduced and Choudhury was booked for a hefty tackle on Swift when play resumed.

Neither side could create anything of note over the next eight or nine minutes, Thomas-Asante blazing both high and wide when given a rare sight of goal and Bachmann was called on to palm away Swift's effort.

Within seconds of that, the Baggies equalized. Watford failed to clear their lines and Townsend was on hand to prod home from close range.

Conor Townsend scores <strong><a  data-cke-saved-href='https://www.vavel.com/en/football/2022/12/15/championship/1132143-west-brom-vs-rotherham-united-efl-championship-preview-gameweek-23-2022.html' href='https://www.vavel.com/en/football/2022/12/15/championship/1132143-west-brom-vs-rotherham-united-efl-championship-preview-gameweek-23-2022.html'>West Brom</a></strong>'s first goal/Photo: Richard Heathcote/Getty Images
Conor Townsend scores West Brom's first goal/Photo: Richard Heathcote/Getty Images

Sarr nearly provided the perfect response, making his way into the box, hitting the outside of the post but they were lucky not to be behind when Okay Yokuslu got a free header all wrong.

With the match played end-to-end, Sarr was presented another chance and made the most of it, converting as he followed up a Kone mishit for his ninth goal of the season.

Moments later, the visitors were back on level terms as a defensive mixup by the Hornets as Wallace beat Bachmann to make it 2-2, but the hosts thought they had re-taken the lead, Sema quickest to a Griffiths parry, but the goal was ruled out for offsides.

With 15 minutes left, the match was up for grabs, but three minutes after Wallace scored, Watford won it when Sema's curling shot deflected in off the leg of Pieters.

Close to the end, Joao Pedro nearly grabbed the hosts' fourth, but he couldn't beat Griffiths and the Hornets held out in six minutes of stoppage time to pick up three valuable points.

Player of the match: Ken Sema

He was alert for his first goal and the second required a slice of luck, but the Swede was active and a threat throughout and fully deserved his brace.

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