Image Credit: Cartilage Free Captain
By Lee Clow
19 October 2019 | Premier League
Dele Alli salvaged a point for Tottenham in the final few minutes to deny bottom of the table Watford a first Premier league win of the season.
The Spurs star, who was making his first start of the season, capitalised on an error by Watford goalkeeper Ben Foster to rescue a point, after his side went behind within 6 minutes thanks to Abdoulaye Doucoure’s strike.
As with most games this season, VAR took centre stage after two controversial incidents. The first came when Watford were denied a penalty late in the first half despite replays showing contact by Jan Vertonghen’s challenge on Gerard Deulofeu. A penalty for Watford potentially could have given them a two-goal lead going into the half time break.
The second came when Dele Alli’s equaliser was reviewed for handball. The VAR officials gave the goal however the big screen in the ground, controlled by Stockley Park, stated it had been ruled out. After huge confusion, the goal was eventually given earning Spurs a point to much relief of their fans.
Going into the game, Tottenham were looking for a good response having returned from the international break; however, they could not have started much worse as they found themselves 0-1 down within 6 minutes. Tottenham defender Danny Rose was slow to react and allowed Daryl Janmaat to race down the right flank before producing a great cross for Doucoure to easily tap home and give the visitors the lead.
For much of the first half, Watford remained the stronger team with Tottenham lacking any fight or creativity. Watford were unfortunate not to be awarded a penalty after Jan Vertonghen went to ground when challenging Deulofeu. The penalty claim was initially waved away by referee Chris Kavanagh and later confirmed by VAR despite replays showing contact by the defender.
After the half time break, Mauricio Pochettino made a change by bringing on Heung-Min Son for Davinson Sanchez and this immediately injected some spark into Tottenham’s attack. The South Korean charged down the right but his powerful effort from a tight angle came crashing back off the crossbar.
Having coped with Tottenham’s early second half pressure, Watford eventually regained some composure denying the home team any clear-cut chances. Watford had chances of their own to put the game to bed however their lack of quality in the final third let them down.
With the game fizzling out, it looked like Watford would finally record their first league victory of the season but unfortunately for them Tottenham managed to snatch an equaliser four minutes from time. An easy catch for Ben Foster turned to huge confusion between him and his defence allowing Alli to latch onto the loose ball and fire home from a tight angle. The goal was immediately checked by VAR for a potential handball by Alli and despite being given, the big screen message in the stadium stated the goal was ruled out. Huge confusion filled the ground with no one sure what decision was made but eventually the referee pointed to the centre circle confirming the goal had been given.
As the full time whilst blew, the Spurs fans breathed a huge sigh of relief having witnessed their side earn a point and save a third straight loss in all competitions. Watford on the other hand will feel disappointed having failed to capture their first win of the season despite leading for 80 minutes.
After the game, Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino spoke about his sides performance: "The performance wasn't great. It wasn't great, but again when you concede an early goal of course in the momentum of the team it's always tough. Of course, it's a difficult situation because when you want to build your confidence again and be solid and to have the calm to play, because you always need to be calm to play, we started to take rash decisions."
Watford manager Quique Sanchez Flores also spoke after the game, he said: "Sometimes we were defending a little bit deep, but they have very good players. Sometimes when the central defenders could drive and get into positions close to box it was very difficult. But I thought the team was really safe and always with the possibility to create opportunities on the counter-attack.”
What’s next?
Tottenham have an important home Champions League clash with Crvena Zvezda on Tuesday before travelling to take on Liverpool next Sunday. For Watford, they are back at Vicarage Road next Saturday when Bournemouth come to visit.
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