Watford moved to within three points of the Championship's top six with a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Bristol City at Ashton Gate. Ngakia's spectacular late strike settled a compelling contest and allowed the visitors to leapfrog their hosts in the table in what had been billed as a key game in the play-off race.
Luca Kjerrumgaard had given the Hornets a seventh-minute lead from close range after incisive work down the right, only for Scott Twine to power in a close-range header from Adam Randell's inviting cross to level matters in the 36th minute. Both sides created enough chances to take more from the game, but in the end the difference was a single, sweetly struck shot from 25 yards.
Early Strikes Set Up a Tense Contest
Watford could hardly have asked for a better start. Giorgi Chakvetadze drove purposefully down the right flank and slipped a pass into Edo Kayembe, whose pull-back from the byline found Kjerrumgaard six yards out, and the Watford man made no mistake as he fired past Radek Vitek to silence the home crowd.