BRUCE NEARLY OUT OF TYNE
Sarr leveller leaves Toon fans restless
NOT even the presence of Ant and Dec could help Steve Bruce find a way out of the dangerous jungle inhabited by managers of Newcastle.
The natives of the Toon Army are still restless – they kept up a steady beat of “We want Brucey out” chants – but this result neither moves him nearer being voted out or secures his position.
For a long time, it looked as if Bruce might win over some floaters with his club’s first victory of the season, thanks to a blistering first-half goal from Geordie Sean Longstaff. But then the icy cool Ismaila Sarr – a contained threat for so long – came alive and equalised. It could have been worse for the Magpies boss as Josh King had a winner ruled out for offside three minutes from time of a crazy match, with a number of chances, but not goals.
Even after Watford’s wipeout, Jacob Murphy missed a golden opportunity for Newcastle in the 94th minute before King might have snatched it again seconds later when he just couldn’t get to a cross.
The draw leavestoon still among the early-season strugglers and there will be harder bushtucker trials than this. That was pretty painful,” said Bruce. “It’s hugely frustrating because we played well enough to win three games in this league.
“But there is always that threat you can get caught by the set piece and that’s what happened.
“We have to take the positives but you need to win to be able to say you have turned the corner. That’s the only thing that turns corners.
“I really enjoyed watching us again today but it was just a shame we didn’t take more chances.”
In an entertaining match, Newcastle created more chances but had no-one with the conviction of Watford’s lethal striker Sarr, whose 72nd minute equaliser with a bullet header made it four goals in six games.
Joe Willock’s pace caused
Watford plenty of awkward moments as did the trickery of Allan Saint-maximin but chances came and went in both halves for the visitors before they tired badly in the last 15 minutes.
When Murphy’s moment arrived in added time, as he scooted through with only Ben Foster to beat, the substitute tried an audacious scoop and the former England star blocked it.
Watford were subdued for an hour but stirred to life and will feel they were unlucky not to win it, although VAR proved King was offside when he reacted to
‘‘
That was pretty painful. It’s hugely frustrating because we played well enough to win three games in this league
Karl
Darlow’s save from Moussa Sissoko. Hornets manager Xisco Munoz said: “I am a little disappointed with the performance.
“We had 10 to 15 minutes in the second half when we looked as if we would win the match but I need to see ambition and power for the whole game.
“Our fans gave a good performance and they almost allowed us to win the game but we need to be more consistent.”
Watford could hardly complain they had not been warned by the time Longstaff gave Newcastle
the lead midway in the first-half.
The midfielder had already struck two rangefinders from long distance when he chanced his arm for a third time.
This time his shot took a slight deflection and although Foster got his fingers to it, the keeper could not prevent the ball from rising into the top corner.
The only alarm Watford created was when Emmanuel Dennis forced Darlow into a secondminute double save and a searing run by Sarr that ended with Darlow making an top stop. Newcastle had the best after the break.