FLYING FINISH
Dawson’s scissor-kick cuts Leicester down to size after Chilwell rocket
THE glorious banality of football, its twists and turns and those moments of wonderful redemption: how we had missed it.
For 90 minutes these two teams scrapped and scraped their way with no little effort to what looked like a forgettable goalless draw.
Then, in four minutes, they conjured a stupendous finale with goals of stunning quality, a moment of apparent devastation and all the requisite tension to set up a dramatic come back. Wholly unscripted maybe, but football can still write wonderful storylines.
Watford, for all the momentum that had gathered under Nigel Pearson prior to lockdown, might have been back in the doldrums when they conceded in the 90th minute to Ben Chilwell’s stunning strike. As it is, they have wind in their sails, thanks to Craig Dawson’s even more athletic equaliser.
This team bear the imprint of Pearson’s indefatigability. They will not lie down and they refused to submit to a defeat that would make relegation loom large, a fate even more devastating than usual in these surreal times.
For Leicester, there was a brief moment when a Champions League place next season looked secure as they drew 10 points clear of Manchester United in fifth. As it is, they can make do with a point. Watford needed it more.
‘We’re one point closer to where we want to be with one game less,’ was Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers’ apt summary. ‘We won’t be derailed by that.’
He felt they deserved to win and, certainly, a double chance on 75 minutes merited a goal, with Marc Albrighton smashing a shot against a post and Ben Foster saving well from James Maddison.
Equally, Watford were better in parts, saw Kasper Schmeichel pull off an excellent one-handed save when Ismaila Sarr broke and tried to lift the ball over him, while Troy Deeney headed just wide on 50 minutes. Given the surreal nature of the occasion, the play was reasonable and the spectacle fair.
Pearson said: ‘It’s hard to quantify a day like today because before the game starts, there are all the question marks. I don’t know how I’m going to feel, I don’t know if the players are going to be able to find their levels of performance. A lot of players respond to the emotional attachment of an atmosphere. But I’m pleased with the way our players have been able to detach themselves from potential negatives of the situation and still perform against a very good side.’ The lonely echo of a new kind of football was heard in Pearson’s bark of instructions, Maddison’s exhortations and Deeney’s authoritative shouting. Jamie Vardy didn’t need words when Albrighton failed him with an over-hit pass. The cold stare said enough. Outside, the Graham Taylor statue donned a mask, a reminder of the new normal. His image, and that of Sir Elton John’s, dominated the banners adorned across the stands, a colourful replacement yet a mere representation of the raucous support Watford might have expected. The last time Vicarage Road hosted a game it was a historic 3-0 win over previously unbeaten Liverpool, one of this stadium’s finest hours and most passionate atmospheres. Here, Leicester emerged into eerie silence, a lone clapper in the stands. A smattering of applause met Deeney as he led out five players. The rest sauntered out as if for a training match. The minute’s silence for victims of coronavirus felt more poignant coming in the shadow of Watford General Hospital, which the club had supported admirably through the worst days of the pandemic. Players dropping to one knee marked the deep racial convulsions which have come to the fore. It felt like a world changed since that Liverpool game.
They delivered a competitive match that had about enough intensity and, by the end, real quality.
‘Because there is the win-lose scenario, that gives it edge,’ said Rodgers. ‘ I thought the players gave everything. But it’s never going to be the same, (without) that passion you get from supporters.’
Chilwell endured a difficult afternoon, constantly challenged by Sarr, and perhaps the £80million price tag ventured for a move to Chelsea is weighing heavily.
Yet as the 90 minutes closed and Demarai Gray drilled a crossfield pass to release him, he advanced into Watford’s penalty area and struck the ball with force and precision. Foster dived but it was pointless: an unstoppable shot.
Watford looked sunk. Their effort had been admirable. They had been the better team for periods. Yet now they contemplated defeat.
Hope was extended by five minutes of added time. Three minutes in, they won a corner.
Jose Holebas struck it into a melee of players and the deflection fell for centre half Craig Dawson.
At 6ft 2in and robust of frame, Dawson is many things you are looking for in a relegation battle but being your last man around the six-yard box as the ball drops in a seemingly unreachable position is not one of them.
Undeterred, the former Radcliffe Borough man launched himself into the air, connecting with an unlikely scissor-kick to strike the ball past Schmeichel.
‘He says he practises them,’ said Pearson, a grin breaking through. ‘I’m not so sure about that!’
It deserved a tumultuous ovation. It received a few cheers from the reserves in the stands. But it could be worth so much more come the season’s end.