Watford 1-1 Tottenham Hotspur

By Andy Lewers, Tales from the Vicarage Reporter

Watford gained a decent point against an excellent Spurs side, in an end-to-end game at Vicarage Road.

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Watford rode their luck in the opening exchanges. Spurs dominated possession as the 'Orns struggled to get going.

Despite the visitor's dominance however, the home side took the lead against the run of play.

Watford's first corner of the match was met by the head of Kabasele, who directed his effort into the corner of the net with 13 minutes on the clock.

The lead however lasted just over ten minutes. As Watford pressed for a second goal, Richarlison was brought down in the penalty area and appeals for a penalty were waved away. Spurs broke up the pitch with some devastating pace and a low ball across the box from Eriksen was tapped into the empty net by Son.

Spurs continued to press for the remainder of the half, and Gomes had to be on hand to save a free kick from Eriksen to ensure the scores remained level going into the break.

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The game's main talking point came just seven minutes after the restart. As Richarlison broke up the pitch, Sanchez came across and brought him down with what appeared to be an elbow to the face. The officials agreed and showed Sanchez a straight red card.

With Watford now having a man advantage they began to press Spurs back in their half. Doucoure came so close to giving Watford the lead with a cracking effort from range, but the Vicarage Road crowd had to endure watching his effort smash off the post.

The ten men of Spurs still posed a threat however and although Watford now had the majority of possession, the visitors always looked dangerous on the counter attack.

As the game drew to a close the ten men of Spurs were holding on to their point. The drama though was far from over and with almost the last kick of the game Watford should have been awarded a penalty.

A cross from the left from Richarlison smacked Dier's outstretched arm in the penalty area and despite the protests of the Watford players and thousands of supporters, none of the officials spotted the blatant offence.

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Despite Spurs playing the majority of the second half with ten men, this was an excellent point against a well-organised side.

The penalty decision at the end however clouded over what should have been a positive atmosphere on the final whistle.

It was by no means Watford's best performance of the season, but this draw sets us up nicely for our trip up to Burnley next weekend.

You 'Orns.