MINGS HAS THE MAGIC TOUCH
TYRONE MINGS knew little about it, but he might have scored the goal that revives Aston Villa’s season. Ezri Konsa’s shot deflected off the England defender and flew into the net five minutes into injury time to leave John Terry celebrating as wildly as at any time during his career for Chelsea and England. The goal came after Watford had failed to clear a long free-kick from Pepe Reina. The PA announcer named Konsa as the scorer but the Premier League awarded the goal to Mings as the ball clipped his leg before looping in, even though he was on the floor when Konsa took aim. Watford boss Nigel Pearson believed Mings was lucky to be on the field after he dodged a second booking when the ball hit his hand midway through the second half, stopping Gerard Deulofeu having a run on goal. ‘I hear the player has said he expected it,’ said Pearson. ‘From what I’m told it was pretty clear.’ Villa supporters went wild and taunted Birmingham fan Troy Deeney, who scored his sixth goal in four matches against the Blues’ great rivals to give Watford a half-time lead. But substitute Douglas Luiz equalised 12 minutes after replacing Danny Drinkwater and then came the Konsa and Mings combination to send Watford back into the bottom three. Assistant head coach Terry jumped into the arms of his manager, Dean Smith, on the touchline and skipper Jack Grealish fell to his knees in relief. Smith was furious with what he believed were time-wasting tactics from Watford but said they had backfired. ‘Watford’s gameplan was to slow things down and get the fans against us but it worked the other way,’ he said. ‘The fans got behind us even more.’ The visitors had taken the lead with their first attempt on target in the 38th minute. Deulofeu swapped passes with Abdoulaye Doucoure on the right before lifting the ball into the centre, where the unmarked Deeney headed it past Reina. It could have been two moments before half-time when Konsa’s poor control sent Deulofeu through but the Spaniard found the side-netting. Though Villa tried to force it at the start of the second half, Deeney was a whisker from making it two. When Deulofeu turned Adam Masina’s cross back into the danger zone, Reina could only palm it to Deeney. The former Liverpool man saved the volley brilliantly and then just about stopped Mings scoring an own-goal with a baffling header. Villa released the tension in the 68th minute when Grealish played in Matt Targett, whose angled drive was parried into the path of Douglas Luiz, who rammed it into the roof of the net and was booked for trying to crowd surf in the Holte End. Both sides had chances in a desperate finale and Grealish was denied a penalty when he tumbled under Craig Dawson’s challenge. But his frustration disappeared when Mings claimed that crucial final touch.