Memorable moments: Troy Deeney makes history with legendary goal to send Watford to Wembley

Troy Deeney may not be wearing a Watford jersey at the moment, but he will forever be remembered as one of the greatest legends in the hearts of the fans and the club’s history. And to make matters worse, it is where he provided one of the finest moments in the history of the club and football in general.

One of the most dramatic moments in English football, perhaps a little surprisingly, didn’t take place in the Premier League, but one competition below. The Championship is famous for its fantastic matches, heart-stopping finishes, spectacular goals and lots of emotion.

Fans at Vicarage Road, Watford’s home stadium, were able to enjoy all this on 12 May 2013.

The Hornets faced Leicester in the rematch of the playoff semi-final. They had the task of averting a 0:1 defeat from the first leg, which they started to do in the 15th minute when Matěj Vydra scored a sensational goal. His goal, however, is sadly quite forgotten given the events to come.

Vydra scored a second time, but as Nugent was able to score for the visitors, it looked like overtime. But it didn’t happen.

It was all started by Anthony Knockaert, who made his way into the home side’s penalty area in the setup and very willingly went down there. The referee’s verdict was clear:: Defender Marco Cassetti fouled the Leicester striker, penalty.

Watford players and fans were shocked. In the 90+7th minute they were one kick of the ball away from a very bitter and controversial end to the season.

The penalty was taken by Knockaert himself and as they say: the rest is history. Unfortunately for Knockaert, it’s a little different than what he probably would have wanted.

For goalkeeper Miguel Almunia had dealt with the penalty and the subsequent finish, and before Knockaert could recover, Watford’s players had already launched a counter-attack and delivered the ball to the other end of the pitch.

Fernando Forestieri sent a centre into the box right at Jonathan Hogg, who was met by the Foxes defence, led by Kasper Schmeichel, who was confident of finishing.

Hogg, however, merely knocked the ball down to Deeney, who literally rammed it into a near-empty net, winning the game for his team and sending them into the final played at Wembley. Within seconds, the mood in the stadium went from 0 to 100.

Deeney jumped straight into the stands among the fans, other fans ran onto the pitch and celebrated with the players right there. Not to be outdone, however, they had just witnessed one of football’s greatest moments.

At that moment, the whole club and its fans must have thought that nothing could stop them, but the opposite was true. They lost to Crystal Palace in the final after Wilfried Zaha’s goal and had to wait 2 years for their dream promotion. But that’s another story.

Source: Livesport