• Monday, December 23, 2024
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Watford holds AFC Bournemouth to a draw

Watford holds AFC Bournemouth to a draw

There were just 44 seconds between Joshua King coming off the bench and scoring for Bournemouth, the fastest goal by a substitute in the Premier League this season

Substitute Isaac Success secured a point for Watford as they twice came from behind in a Vicarage Road thriller against Bournemouth.

Callum Wilson headed the Cherries ahead from Junior Stanislas’ deflected cross before Artur Boruc’s double save denied Watford’s Nordin Amrabat.

Watford levelled through captain Troy Deeney’s 99th goal for the club just after the break, a close-range finish after fine work by Morocco international Amrabat.

Substitute Joshua King restored Bournemouth’s lead with a long-range deflected effort 44 seconds after coming on before Success equalised with a header following Jose Holebas’ free-kick.

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Incredibly, Bournemouth hit the woodwork three times in the second half. Jack Wilshire was twice denied by the post while Stanislas’s free-kick rattled the bar late on.

Watford’s defence a worry for Mazzarri

Watford played their part in a thoroughly entertaining match and showed much more fight than they did last time out at Burnley, where Deeney said his team-mates had allowed themselves to be “bullied” during a 2-0 defeat.

Yet Walter Mazzarri goes into the second international break of the season still seeking a first clean sheet after twice conceding against a team that had previously scored just four goals in nine hours.

Bournemouth had 11 shots in total to Watford’s 17. However, the visitors scored from two of them and hit the woodwork another three times.

Watford goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes should have kept out Wilson’s close-range header, while King could not believe his luck as he was allowed to run unchallenged with the ball at his feet before finding the net from distance.

While Wilshere was unfortunate to see a curling effort come off a post shortly after Deeney had made it 1-1, he was at fault for missing a golden opportunity to win the game when the score was 2-2.

The England international was immediately substituted after shooting against a post when it looked easier to score.

Watford had another let-off in the dying stages as Stanislas bent a free-kick around the wall only for the ball to strike the bar.

Wilshere again fails to finish

Wilshere started his third match since joining Bournemouth on loan from Arsenal for the rest of the season.

However, he has now gone 20 Premier League appearances without playing the full 90 minutes after being replaced by Dan Gosling 16 minutes from the end.

The last time the 24-year-old made it to the final whistle after starting a game was on 13 September 2014 against Manchester City.

Wilshere produced a busy performance as the Cherries secured only their second away point of the campaign.

However, he remains without a league goal since May 2015 after one bad miss in a game Eddie Howe, who has been linked with the England manager’s job, felt his side should have won.

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