Delightful Deulofeu Double Sends Watford Into FA Cup Final
7th April 2019
Wolves manager Nuno Espirito Santo, whose side beat Manchester United in the last round, described "a moment of real pain and disappointment"
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- Javi Gracia hailed "angry" Gerard Deulofeu after the Spaniard came off the bench to spark an incredible comeback as Watford beat Wolves 3-2 to set up an FA Cup final against mighty Manchester City
- Gracia's side looked down and out at Wembley on Sunday, trailing 2-0 late in normal time before a moment of magic from Deulofeu and a nerveless last-gasp penalty from captain Troy Deeney pulled them level
- Earlier, a goal from Matt Doherty in the first half and a second-half strike from Raul Jimenez had seemingly set Wolves on the path to their first FA Cup final since 1960 in a full-blooded cup tie
LONDON, United Kingdom- Javi Gracia hailed "angry" Gerard Deulofeu after the Spaniard
came off the bench to spark an incredible comeback as Watford beat Wolves 3-2
to set up an FA Cup final against mighty Manchester City.
Gracia's side looked
down and out at Wembley on Sunday, trailing 2-0 late in normal time before a
moment of magic from Deulofeu and a nerveless last-gasp penalty from captain
Troy Deeney pulled them level.
Earlier, a goal from
Matt Doherty in the first half and a second-half strike from Raul Jimenez had
seemingly set Wolves on the path to their first FA Cup final since 1960 in a
full-blooded cup tie.
Wolves picked
themselves up after the penalty and settled quickly at the start of extra time.
But the momentum was
with a physical Watford side and they took the lead for the first time in the
match in the 104th minute after more brilliance from Spaniard Deulofeu, who
rolled the ball past John Ruddy from a tight angle after holding off Conor
Coady.
"When
everything was lost I think the team was able to show our character, our
personality, our ambition and believing until the end we were able to win today,"
said a proud Garcia.
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The Watford manager
said he knew Deulofeu would have an important role to play.
"At that moment
I think he was angry when he started to play but I like to see my players this
way with that attitude when they felt angry in this moment to show what they
are able to do," he said.
- 'Best of the rest' -
Watford and Wolves
are battling to be the "best of the rest" in the Premier League
behind the so-called 'Big Six' but on Sunday the focus of both clubs switched
to the chance to win rare silverware.
Both teams struggled
to find their rhythm during a scrappy opening spell with little in the way of
clear-cut openings.
Wolverhampton-born
Andre Gray wasted a clear chance just after the half-hour mark, lifting
Deeney's cross over the crossbar from six yards after escaping the Wolves
defence.
Minutes later
Heurelho Gomes did well to tip over a drive from Leander Dendoncker as Wolves
poured forward.
From the resulting
corner, the ball was played short to Diogo Jota, who sent over an inviting
cross that Doherty headed in to give Wolves a 36th-minute lead.
Gray had another
glorious chance to equalise on the stroke of half-time but Wolves captain Coady
threw himself in front of a powerful shot to ensure his side went into the
break in front.
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Wolves gave
Watford a mountain to climb when Jimenez -- the club's new record signing --
hooked the ball past Gomes after controlling a deep cross from Doherty in the
62nd minute.
The Mexico
international donned a yellow-and-black wrestling mask as the Wolves fans
celebrated wildly.
Watford huffed and
puffed as they battled to get back into the game but Deulofeu, brought on in
place of Will Hughes in the 66th minute, produced a moment of pure inspiration
in the 79th minute.
The ball fell to him
in the area and he picked his spot, chipping delicately over the head of Ruddy
into the top corner, leaving the goalkeeper rooted to the spot.
With time running
out, Dendoncker was adjudged to have brought down Deeney in the penalty box and
referee Michael Oliver pointed to the spot after a moment's consideration, with
the spot-kick confirmed by VAR.
Deeney held his
nerve and blasted the ball down the middle in the 94th minute, with Ruddy
unable to keep it out.
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That took the game
to extra time and Deulofeu applied the killer touch shortly before the end
of the first period of extra time to send Watford through to next month's final
against quadruple-chasing Manchester City.
Wolves manager Nuno
Espirito Santo, whose side beat Manchester United in the last round, described
"a moment of real pain and disappointment".
"The feeling
that we had is that we had it and it got away from us," he said. "We
have to look at it. We have to realise that in the last minutes of the game we
should have managed better."