Watford battled to a 4-2 victory over Huddersfield Town this afternoon despite being reduced to 10 men and the best efforts of the visitors, who pegged the Hornets back twice.
Harry Bunn sent a shot flying over the bar in the fifth minute as the visitors proved they had not come away from home to settle for a point.
Watford soon began to show their dominance though, and Ikechi Anya dragged a shot past the near post before Troy Deeney similarly put a header wide.
However, the Watford striker didn't have to wait long to open his account as he sent a composed finish into the far corner after being set free by Daniel Tozser.
Fernando Forestieri and Deeney continued to cause problems for the visitors and the duo saw efforts fly just wide of the post moments apart.
Radoslaw Majewski reminded the home side that there was more than one team in the game when he forced Heurelho Gomes into a diving save low to his right, but Watford held on to lead at the break.
Huddersfield were level just three minutes after the interval though when Bunn pounced on defensive uncertainty to slam the ball home.
Nonetheless, Anya put Watford ahead once more in the 54th minute after some poor defending at the other end of the pitch.
Once again, the home side were pegged back when Murray Wallace headed home from a corner shortly after Abdi's goal, and things then went from bad to worse for the Hornets as Gabriel Tamas picked up his second yellow card in the space of five minutes and was dismissed.
However, the drama wasn't finished there as Keith Andrews - who appeared as a half-time substitute for the home side - headed home in the 68th minute to give 10-man Watford the lead for the third time in the game.
With their backs to the wall, Gomes made two good saves from Nakhi Wells and Adam Hammill in quick succession while Deeney ran his socks off up front.
In the 95th minute, Abdi grabbed his second goal of the game as he cut through a threadbare Huddersfield defence before curling a composed finish into the far corner as Watford moved up to second place in the Championship table after five games with yet another victory.
Kristian Johnson
