Troy Deeney missed a second-half penalty as Tottenham held on for a draw against Watford on Saturday.
Since the arrival of manager Nigel Pearson, the hornets have gone seven matches unbeaten in the Premier League rising from the relegation zone and a win today would have given them the much-needed cushion away from relegation zones and instilled the confidence to charge for a top ten spot.
Paulo Gazzaniga dived right to deny Troy Deeney’s well-struck penalty after Jan Vertonghen’s handled the ball in the 18-yard area.
Tottenham manager Jose Mourinho thinks his side should have won the match despite the opposition creating the better chances of the game including a penalty miss;
“I think we deserved to win this match. To lose would have been too harsh on the boys.”
“The result is unfair. I think it would have been more unfair if we lost,” added Mourinho, whose side have now gone four matches without a win.
“We had the control of the game, especially in the first half. We arrived in dangerous positions. We created chances but we did not manage to score.”
But the manager is happy with the general performance of his team despite being on the run of four games without a win in the EPL.
“We played very well. We started the game without a striker but with lots of offensive players.
“I am happy with how we played, our commitment.
“We are not good at adapting to this style of football. We were quite difficult to play.”
Watford’s goalkeeper played his part in the drama saving Luka Moura and Nathaniel Chalobah’s effort to deny the visitors in the first half.
Watford substitute Ignacio Pussetto, making his debut for the club, cleared an Erik Lamela effort off the line in stoppage time at the end of the match.
Watford manager Nigel Pearson believes his side did enough to win;
“It was a game we felt we created enough to win. They have had their situations and chances as well. In the first half we did not quite get our pressing as well as we have at late. We grew into the game and started to take more control. We had a good chance to win.”
On the penalty miss: “It’s football. I said to the players I am looking for a performance and we had a good performance today. If we go out with every intention to win the game then we will play well. I am pleased with how we played football today.”
Watford’s Etienne Coupe was the Man of the Match.
The draw meant Tottenham remains 8th on the log while the Hornets are just above the relegation zone with 23 points and Villa breathing down their neck.
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