Watford, Tottenham play a goalless draw
Watford, Jan. 18: Troy Deeney saw his penalty saved as Watford drew 0-0 with Tottenham on Saturday, extending Nigel Pearson’s unbeaten Premier League run to six games and further damaging Spurs’ Champions League ambitions.
The key moment at Vicarage Road came with 20 minutes to go when Spurs goalkeeper Paulo Gazzaniga dived low to his left to keep out the Watford captain’s spot kick.
Spurs came agonisingly close to snatching the win in stoppage time only for Watford substitute Ignacio Pussetto, making his debut for the club, to clear an Erik Lamela effort off the line.
But it was another point claimed during Watford’s resurgence under Pearson, who has now overseen a run of four wins and two draws in his past six league games.
The result is frustrating for Jose Mourinho, whose team, without the injured Harry Kane and with uncertainty over the future of Christian Eriksen, could be 11 points off fourth spot by the end of the day.
Mourinho was pleased with Tottenham’s performance but admitted they missed the physical presence of the injured Moussa Sissoko and Harry Kane, and Kane’s eye for goal.
The Spurs boss said he would like to boost his forward options in the January transfer window but only if the right options became available.
Pearson praised his side despite the disappointment of the missed penalty but said they were not yet out of the woods.“This is not the last match in Tottenham’s history,” Jose said.
“I give the players credit for the fact that they’ve embraced the situation for what it is,” he said. “They understand where we are and they’ve not shirked responsibility.”
He added: “We’ve got to deal with the fact that we’re in a relegation battle and what we’ve produced recently is good but that’s the baseline for us.”
The home side gradually worked their way into the game and started to see more of the ball.
There was a long interruption just before the half hour when referee Michael Oliver’s battery equipment suffered a technical failure which may have stopped him checking a potentially dangerous foul by Etienne Capoue on Japhet Tanganga, with the Watford man escaping a card completely.