ALL HAIL ALBERT THE LATE
Adomah strikes at the death
ALBERT ADOMAH made a huge dent in Watford’s promotion push with a last-minute winner.
As Hornets head coach Xisco Munoz dropped his first points at Vicarage Road, Adomah turned smartly to fire home Todd Kane’s cross in a dramatic turnaround.
Rangers had trailed until the 73rd minute, when on-loan striker Charlie Austin’s sixth goal in as many games against Watford had brought the Hoops level.
And on this evidence, there is no way QPR should get drawn into a relegation battle after their third away win in a row.
The fixture’s rich history includes former England manager Terry Venables complaining about the Vicarage Road slope, as if it was the north face of the Eiger, after his side suffered back-to-back hammerings here 40 years ago.
And although the Hoops had been going downhill too readily for comfort lately, their fightback was as timely as it was impressive.
For long periods, Watford did not look like the side who have collected more points at home than anyone else in the country – and QPR did not play like a team looking over their shoulders.
Earlier on deadline day, the Hornets had signed Arsenal legend Dennis Bergkamp’s son, Mitchel – and here was a contest crying out for the Dutch master’s guile and artistic merit, even at the age of 51.
It was always going to take a mistake to break the impasse, and Rangers skipper Geoff Cameron duly supplied it six minutes after the break, bringing down Ismaila Sarr after the Senegal winger had charged down a clearance.
Troy Deeney hammered the resulting penalty beyond Seny Dieng, his seventh goal of the season and his sixth from the spot.
Some Watford fans complain about Deeney’s lack of goals from open play, and they are ungrateful dunces. He has scored 140 goals for the club, for heaven’s sake.
But Rangers deserved their equaliser when Austin headed home his 50th goal for QPR, before Adomah had the final say.