Kayembe was Watford’s third choice penalty-taker on Saturday.
There was quite a story behind how Edo Kayembe came to score the decisive penalty against Blackburn Rovers at Vicarage Road on Saturday.
The midfielder tucked the winning spot-kick away with plenty of confidence, but after the game head Tom Cleverley explained it was a circuitous route to Kayembe putting the ball on the spot.
Sierralta says attention must now turn to away form.
Considered opinions: Watford 1 Blackburn 0
“Tom Dele-Bashiru is our first-choice penalty taker but he was out injured today,” Cleverley explained.
“He’s not a natural penalty taker that person. He didn’t want the penalty.
“I would never say a player didn’t want responsibility, so I won’t name him.
“Instead the number two took it, and that was Edo Kayembe, and he dispatched it very well.”
Kayembe also had to keep his nerve during a long pause after the penalty had been awarded, which was extended when referee Darren England stopped him just before taking it to insist the ball was moved onto the spot.
“In that situation, he did a lot better than I could have done!” laughed Cleverley.
“I remember missing one in the last minute at Goodison Park where I completely folded!
“Edo certainly handled the moment much better than I could have done.
“A lot of people probably thought turning Edo into an attacking midfielder was a strange decision, but he’s got five league goals this season.
“He’s comfortably our top scorer in the league and his all-round performance was excellent today.
“Even when we had 10 or 15 minutes of loss of control, Edo was the one who kept his level and focus, and knitted it together.”
Once the Hornets had got their noses in front, they protected their clean sheet to achieve one for the first time since August 17.
“It’s a massive response for Dan Bachmann to have the clean sheet,” said Cleverley.
“Ryan Porteous came in and was excellent, and having Francisco back has made a huge difference again because we really missed him.
“That’s nothing against Ogbonna and I thought he did well in some games for us, but Francisco has been with us the whole time and knows exactly how we want to play.
“He’s in a really strong moment at the minute.”
