Iconic Moments in Football No.46
This week’s iconic moment comes from the Championship in the Play Off Semi Final Second Leg between Watford and Leicester City at the end of the 2012/13 season .
It is perhaps not considered an ‘iconic moment’ as such, more an iconic ‘passage of play’.
With Watford winning the game 2-1 but the scores tied at 2-2 on aggregate, visitors Leicester City were awarded a penalty in the sixth minute of injury time. Anthony Knockaert was brought down in the penalty area by Watford’s Marco Cassetti. It was quite a tame challenge and Knockaert definitely made the most of it.
Knockaert stepped up to take the penalty, knowing that if he scored then he would send Leicester through to the Play Off Final at Wembley.
Watford’s goalkeeper Manuel Almunia dived to his left and managed to keep the ball out with his legs. Knockaert chased the ball in but Almunia was equally as fast and managed to get behind the ball, pushing it away to safety.
The vast majority of Vicarage Road erupted with joy and the crowd were still cheering as the ball was hoofed clear from the penalty area. Knockaert remained in the area, still frustrated that he had missed a chance to win the game.
Watford’s Ikechi Anya gained possession of the desperate clearance that had been booted away after Almunia’s save.
Taking the ball from inside his own half, he was able to dribble about 30 yards before knocking the ball on to Fernando Forestieri. The celebratory cheering soon turned into an almost guttural roar, urging Forestier on towards the edge of the penalty area near the Leicester byline.
He managed to evade a Leicester challenge before hanging a cross up to the far post where Jonathan Hogg was waiting.
Hogg jumped up and headed the ball back despite Leicester’s goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel jumping up to try and block the ball. Watford’s striker Troy Deeney was loitering at the edge of the penalty area and realising a chance was on, ran full-power towards the loose ball and hammered a hard shot into the top corner of the net.
Vicarage Road was deafening. The noise had built up from the penalty save by Almunia moments later, building up as the Watford forward line made their way upfield. It reached a crescendo as Deeney blasted the ball into the back of the net and in a matter of a little over a minute, the Watford fans had gone from desperation to unbridled joy!
Deeney had ripped his shirt off in celebration before jumping over the low advertising hoardings at the front of one of the stands to celebrate with his fans. He had momentarily disappeared under a huge mass of Watford fans who were desperately trying to congratulate the striker.
In contrast, the Leicester City players looked completely bewildered out on the pitch. Their range of emotions had been the polar opposite from the Watford players and fans. They had gone from thinking that they had a chance of playing at Wembley for a place in the Premier League to another season in the Championship in a matter of seconds.
The victory over Leicester was as good as it got for Watford as they were beaten 1-0 by Crystal Palace in the Play Off Final at Wembley.
Leicester City were promoted as champions the following season, ending the season with 102 points and only losing six of their 46 league games. They then went on and won the Premier League title against all the odds in 2016.
I have decided to add a video at the bottom of the Sky Sports reporter who was going through the events live as it happened. It is far better than watching the action, which is also available on YouTube.
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