Late Goal Costs Watford Victory

Watford were denied the chance of back-to-back wins thanks to a late equaliser from Scott Arfield that saw visitors Burnley pick up another vital point in their quest for promotion. Watford had held the lead since the ninth minute when Troy Deeney’s deflected shot gave them the lead but conceded late on to Arfield, a goal which saw Burnley re-establish their ten point cushion in second place.

Beppe Sannino made just the one change from last weekend’s 4-1 victory at Sheffield Wednesday with the injured Lloyd Doyley replaced by Marco Cassetti at the back. Jonathan Bond was back on the bench after an injury in the warm up last weekend saw Gary Woods take his place.

Sean Dyche had to juggle the pack as his Burnley side added the loss of Sam Vokes to their injured and suspended list which already included key men Kieran Tripper, Dean Marney and Danny Ings. There was a place in the starting line-up for former Hornet Michael Kightly who spent time on loan with the Hornets two seasons ago under Dyche.

Watford started the game brightly and took the lead after just nine minutes through Deeney. Having broken up a Burnley attack, the Hornets moved forward quickly with Gabriele Angella finding Deeney 25 yards out. The striker moved towards the edge of the box before unleashing a shot which deflected off Jason Shackell and over Tom Heaton.

Burnley looked dangerous themselves going forward and thought they had equalised just four minutes later when Ashley Barnes turned in Keith Treacy’s low cross but was denied by the linesman’s flag.

The Hornets continued to push for a second goal and came close on a couple of occasions. Lewis McGugan shot just wide on the volley after he found space on the edge of the box and Deeney went close again firing just over from 20 yards after the ball broke to him after Ranegie’s flick on.

Referee Stuart Attwell, who famously awarded a ‘ghost goal’ against Watford back in 2008, failed to endear himself to the home crowd on his first return since when he allowed a poor challenge of Cristian Battocchio to go unpunished. To compound the situation the midfielder was stretchered off following the incident and replaced by Almen Abdi.

Half Time: 1-0
Second Half

The second half saw a more open game as Burnley put pressure on the Watford defence as they attempted to get back into the game. The hosts continued attacking and came close to doubling their lead through two McGugan efforts, one which went wide and the other high.

Scott Arfield looked dangerous for the visitors and had an early second half effort well saved by Manuel Almunia.

Watford had more chances to score a second midway through the second half when following a corner both Abdi and Joel Ekstrand had efforts saved before Daniel Pudil fired into the side netting.

Ranegie also came close to getting Watford’s second when he got across his marker on the edge of the box but saw his flicked header from Daniel Tozser’s cross saved by Heaton.

Burnley continued to threaten themselves and came very close to an equaliser with ten minutes to go. A deep corner from Kightly was met by Ben Mee, but his goal bound header was excellently saved by Almunia.

Watford missed their best chance to finish the game just moments later when a good counter-attacking move saw McGugan play the ball through the Burnley defence for Anya to run onto. He rounded the goalkeeper but on his weaker side under hit the finish and saw his effort cleared off the line.

From the resulting corner Pudil came close again but his header was well saved by Heaton to keep his team in it.

Having stayed in the game, Burnley then profited when they equalised through Arfield after 86 minutes. Chris Baird’s foray forward saw him find Arfield in space on the edge of the box and drilled the ball into the bottom corner leaving Almunia with no chance.

There was still time for Watford to attempt to win the game and Deeney saw effort go just wide when he shot from long range after picking up a loose ball. However, neither side could find a winner and had to settle for a point which surely ends the Hornets faint play-off hopes.

Full Time: 1-1

Watford: Almunia, Angella, Cassetti, Ekstrand, Anya, Battocchio (Abdi), Tozser, McGugan (Riera), Ranegie (Faraoni), Deeney

Subs Not Used: Bond (GK), Hoban, Diakite, Murray

Burnley: Heaton, Baird, Duff, Shackell, Mee, Edgar, Jones (Stock), Arfield, Treacy (Wallace), Kightly, Barnes

Subs Not Used: Cisak (GK), Lafferty, Long, Hewitt, Gilchrist

Att: 16,182

Ref: Mr Stuart Attwell