Hints of old Man United in late Houdini act against Watford
For, as Troy Deeney slammed home an 87th-minute equalising penalty on the day he had invited six former inmates from his time in prison to watch the match, it seemed as though the striker had written the script.
Instead, though, it was Manchester United who got of jail.
In a manner of which Alex Ferguson would have been proud, United went straight up the other end and snatched all three points, as Deeney went from hero to villain and turned the ball into his own net following a Bastian Schweinsteiger cross.
Such late drama used to be the norm for the 20-time English champions, but such has its scarcity been in recent times that even Louis van Gaal did not predict quite a finish.
“I have to say after the penalty, I thought we had given it away, but then you see the spirit of the game,” said Van Gaal.
“After the penalty, we created three chances in a row. It was an injection, the equaliser. I am very proud I am the manager of that team.
“I was very satisfied about our defensive organisation. We didn’t give more than three chances away, one in the first half and two in the second half.”
As Van Gaal rightly admitted, the game should have been over long before Deeney gave Watford’s supporters hope.
Chance after chance went begging for United in the first half, as they failed to translate their wealth of possession into a commanding lead.
The absences of Anthony Martial and Wayne Rooney gave some explanation for the slender 1-0 lead at the break, as did the departure of Ander Herrera after 25 minutes.
The Spaniard created Memphis Depay’s opener with a beautiful cross and was at the heart of everything, but as he limped off, it left a tool that was already not the sharpest in the box even more blunt.
However that United spirit of old resurfaced to give the club a vital three points in their chase for the title.
Fittingly, it was the team’s oldest player, Schweinsteiger, who supplied the winning goal as his cut-back was bundled in by Deeney. Having won nearly all there is to win in the game, the German knows more than most just what results like this can do to a club’s season.
“I remember, a few weeks ago, we were five points behind and now we are at the top, which is very important,” said Schweinsteiger.
“It meant a lot to me, because these sorts of games can make the difference at the end of the season. I think, the whole season, we have had a good spirit. In every game, we want to win and fight for each other. Especially today, with the wind and the pitch, it’s not easy. We tried to play and didn’t give up. In the end, I think we deserved to win and we’re happy.
“Now we have two points more, which is why I was really happy and made an unbelievable sprint after the goal, where nobody could follow me.”
For Watford and Quique Sanchez Flores, the post-mortem will be brief.
The Spaniard admits he sometimes spends days analysing losses, but this defeat won’t require high levels of scrutiny and should not dampen what has been a bright start to the season for the newly-promoted side.
“I will go home and try not to punish myself too much. There are things that are very clear,” said Flores. “Sometimes when you play so much you think you have to study a lot after, but this match is very clear. We were not good in the first-half. The passing was bad, we had no feeling, everything was bad. The second-half was good.
“There is not too much to analyse.”
Gomes 6; Nyom 4 (69 Paredes 5), Britos 5, Cathcart 5, Anya 6; Abdi 6, Watson 6, Capoue 7, Jurado 5 (45 Ake 6); Deeney 7, Ighalo 6.
Arlauskis, Oulare, Guedioura, Ibarbo, Diamanti.
De Gea 8; Young 6, Jones 7 (69 McNair 6), Smalling 8, Blind 6; Schneiderlin 6, Schweinsteiger 7; Mata 6 (78 Pereira 5), Herrera 7 (25 Rojo 6), Lingard 7; Depay 8.
Romero, Darmian, Rashford, Goss.
Bobby Madley
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