Kiko Femenía was in awe watching Ismaïla Sarr last night, enjoying his view from the best seat in the house as the Senegal star scored another memorable double at Vicarage Road.
The Spaniard supplied the short pass for Sarr to curl in a stunning first and then was right behind the winger as he thumped in a second that was hit with such ferocity that it hit the back of the net and bounced out past the six-yard box. They were his 11th and 12th goals of the season and it the second time he has had jaws dropping with a pair of goals in the same game at Vicarage Road, coming a year after he got two against Liverpool.
“Isma is having an outstanding season,” said Femenía on Hive Live Extra. “He deserved his goals and helps the team, so everyone is very, very happy for him. He is a top-class player and I enjoy playing with him so much. We understand each other very well on the pitch and he helps me defensively. The team is working collectively and that's the most important thing.”
Sarr's double burst knocked the stuffing out of Reading and meant the game was effectively won inside 14 minutes. The Royals never laid down and had a right good go, hitting the post through George Puscas and forcing a fine save from Daniel Bachmann near the end following a shot from Sone Aluko, but the Hornets were largely always in control in racking up a seventh straight home win.
“It was a very important game for us, it was another final,” said Femenía. “We approached it in the right way and it's one step less to achieve our objective, so everyone is very happy. I was very happy we scored at an early stage as we know Reading have good quality players and a good quality squad. They are not easy to break through, but we approached it very well.”
Femenía has previous for getting out of the second tier. He did so in Spain with Alaves in 2016 so talks from a position of strength when it comes to knowing what it takes.
“The key with Alaves was the team spirit,” he said. “I can see the same here. Forget the quality of the players, we are all together, we are working together and we came together after Xisco arrived. He brought some happiness and it's very, very good. I'm very, very happy here and so are my family, I am settled and I hope to stay many more years.”
Now 30, Femenía is a senior player in the dressing room and he took Francisco Sierralta under his wing and helped him acclimitise. The Chilean has been a revelation since he came into the side, keeping 12 clean sheets in 19 league starts and racking up 14 wins.
“We are best mates in the dressing room,” said Femenía. “Our wives are very close as well so we always talk and we go out together. We discusss football as well as life. He helped himself adapt and has worked very, very hard. He is the biggest surprise of this season.”
The attention now turns to the derby on Saturday when the Hornets can complete the league double over Luton Town and take more steps towards a swift return to Premier League football.
“It's a very important game for the fans,” said the full-back. “We have to reach it with calm and ambition as it's an opporunity to get three points and get us closer to the Premier League. We have a good squad and the quality to go up. That's the goal of the club. We have five finals and need to keep playing as we want to go up.”
