Moussa Sissoko scored his first goal on his return to Watford as Derby were beaten 2-1 at Vicarage Road.

Ebou Adams gave the Rams an early lead, but that effort was cancelled out by a spectacular first-half strike from Vakoun Bayo, which also saw Derby’s assistant coach Richie Barker sent to the stands.

Former France star Sissoko, in his second spell as a Hornet, scored in the 76th minute to complete a comeback that has seen Watford maintain their 100 per cent start to the season. They have won all three Championship games and one EFL Cup tie.

Derby opened the scoring in the second minute through Adams, who was playing on loan for the first time since his permanent move from Cardiff last season.

Watford were caught off guard from a throw-in, which allowed Kayden Jackson to cross from the right to Adams, who was lurking just inside the box. The Derby player kept his composure and fired a volley between goalkeeper Daniel Bachmann and his right post.

Watford had more possession after that, but the Rams pulled their men back behind the ball to avoid spaces. Mattie Pollock fired a long-range shot over and headed the ball past debutant Jacob Widell Zetterstrom before fellow centre-back Francisco Sierralta headed just wide.

Watford equalised in spectacular fashion on the half hour when Bayo broke free of his marker, got behind the Derby defence and volleyed Pollock’s long diagonal ball into the bottom corner, twisting his body in the air to produce the perfect scissor-kick.

Tempers then flared in front of the team benches after Edo Kayembe and Callum Elder clashed. Coaches and other players soon intervened, apparently over a throw-in, and referee Geoff Eltringham showed Derby’s assistant manager Barker the red card.

Zetterstrom made a mistake just before half-time when he allowed Bayo to clear, but the Watford player was unable to find the unguarded goal from a tight angle.

The second half was less exciting. Watford again had more possession, but Bachmann had to tip a deflected shot from David Ozoh over the bar. The Hornets survived a penalty appeal for handball from the resulting corner.

Adams almost put Derby back in the lead, but his header from Nathaniel Mendez-Laing’s free kick went too high.

Bayo headed over at the other end but Watford were unstoppable in the 76th minute. Substitute Liam Thompson blocked Giorgi Chakvetadze’s shot after good work from Hornets substitute Kwadwo Baah on the right, but Sissoko was there to slot home the rebound.

It was the 35-year-old’s first goal for Watford since March 2022, when he scored against Arsenal in his previous season with the Hornets. He followed that with two years at Nantes before manager Tom Cleverley brought him back for free in July.

Watford held on and headed the ball to Bachmann in injury time.

The managers

Watford’s Tom Cleverley:

“(Sissoko) is central to what we are trying to do. With his game intelligence and experience, he is our organiser on the pitch and in moments like these he is in a class of his own.

“And if someone takes care of their body as they have throughout their working life, the aging process is very slow.

“He’s one of those personalities. When you go up against him as an opposing player, he has a certain presence, an aura around him. He’s a winner, so he meets a lot of our criteria.”

Derby’s Paul Warne:

“The volley was a joke and if I didn’t work for Derby I would have clapped.

The result was a setback after the Rams recorded their first win since promotion with a 1-0 home victory over Middlesbrough last week.

“I thought it was quite an entertaining game. Our plan was to frustrate Watford.

“My disappointment was that the final pass was not good enough when we had chances to counterattack.

“It could be that they are colour blind, that would be the worst case scenario. The passport is only about 15 cm.

“My players can do that, I see them all the time in training.”