At Vicarage Road this afternoon it was a battle of recently-relegated Premier League sides as Watford entertained south coast side Bournemouth. Both sides are pretty much equally matched and both riding high.
A win for either side would have given them a definite 2nd place in the table; 1st if the margin of victory had been three or four goals. It wasn’t to be. The game itself ran its course to end in a 1-1 draw.
That result left the Hornets and the Cherries both still placed well in the Sky Bet Championship table in 2nd and 3rd ahead of the rest of the division’s games this weekend.
Watford’s goal came in the 12th minutes courtesy of Stipe Perica, who later left the game (pictured above) with an arm injury.
It was a goal that looked likley to guarantee a home win for the Hornets, a likelihood that carried on deep into time-added on by the referee.
With the minutes ticking away, Bournemouth’s Chris Mepham snatched a 94th minute equaliser to give the Cherries a share of the points right at the death.
Three things learned from the Watford vs Bournemouth game:
1. Premier League class: both Watford and Bournemouth have retained enough of their Premier league squad to remain a threat this season. Both sides have also astutely added to this Premier League core, giving them an additional level of threat.
2. There or thereabouts: both Watford and Bournemouth play that style of football that, when allied to their squads, means that both sides will definitely be in the mix for promotion when the end of this season draws near.
3. January calling: both clubs might want to look very carefully at the striker market in January to see if they can snaffle a more goal-hungry striker to ensure that they get over the line in that final half-season slog.
