Ismaïla Sarr scored an incredible goal from inside his own half as Watford maintained their unbeaten start to the Sky Bet Championship campaign with a 1-1 draw at West Bromwich Albion.

Daniel Bachmann was called upon to keep the tie goalless on a number of occasions in the opening moments, before Sarr dazzled the Hawthorns crowd with an early Goal-of-the-Season contender.

Having gone close on a number of occasions, Karlan Grant notched an equaliser for West Brom just before the half-time whistle, and though there were plenty of further chances in the second half - with Sarr being denied from the penalty spot - both sides held out for a well-earned draw.

A point in the West Midlands marks another positive step in the early stages of the 2022/23 season for the Hornets, and the team will now focus their attention on securing a second successive home win against Burnley on Friday night (August 12, 8pm KO).

Head Coach Rob Edwards name an unchanged line-up following the Hornets’ opening-day victory over Sheffield United, and his charges found themselves under pressure from their buoyant hosts soon after the first whistle.

Goalkeeper Bachmann produced two outstanding saves within the first five minutes, with the Austria international keeping out Darnell Furlong’s fizzing volley before reacting incredibly to deny Grant from point-blank range.

Dara O’Shea headed wide shortly after as West Brom continued to push forward, and fellow defender Semi Ajayi then tried his luck with an effort that the Golden Boys were thankful to see sail off target.

After weathering the storm Watford would quickly bounce back with the evening’s first goal in the 12th minute, and in some style. After picking up the ball in his own half and under little pressure, forward Sarr - celebrating the three-year anniversary of his move to Watford - spotted home stopper David Button off his line and unleashed an outrageous shot that flew all the way into the back of the net.

After going behind to such a stunning effort, Albion, to their credit, looked to produce an immediate response, and both Francisco Sierralta and Tom Cleverley did well to keep the Baggies at bay.

Grant was guilty of spurning a fine chance close to goal following a teasing Jed Wallace cross with little under 20 minutes played, and the forward then faltered again seconds later as Christian Kabasele did well to block his effort out for a corner.

Twelve minutes later Watford were back on the attack and looking for a second goal, with Sarr’s searching cross from the left just evading the lurking Emmanuel Dennis thanks to a last-ditch Conor Townsend intervention.

Back at the other end Bachmann was again on fine form to this time deny John Swift after Furlong had delivered from the right, but it wasn’t long before the Hornets were back on the attack, Sarr seeing a shot from a tight angle parried after he had latched onto a smart Edo Kayembe ball.

West Brom did get the goal they had threatened moments before the break, however, with Grady Diangana releasing Grant, who beat the offside trap and this time slotted past Bachmann for 1-1.

The hosts started the second half as they had finished the first, with Bachmann having to be alert to prevent Townsend making it 2-1 in the early stages, before Grant fired over from a corner.

The Baggies continued to control possession and Grant again went close to adding to his tally shortly after the hour mark, and then Kamara did well to put Swift off as the home midfielder looked to fire a shot at goal.

After his goalscoring start to the season against Sheffield United, João Pedro looked to make his mark second time around with a shot that flew off target from the edge of the box on the 70-minute mark.

Moments later Sarr was awarded a penalty after being felled by Ajayi as he looked to shoot one-on-one with Button, but the latter saved to his left to deny the Senegal international from 12 yards and keep the scores level.

Recent signing Mario Gaspar came on for his Hornets debut with quarter-of-an-hour to play, and fellow new recuit Rey Manaj soon joined him on the pitch for his second appearance in yellow, but neither man was able to steer the Hornets to victory as the honours ended even.