TV star Richard Lee ensured Manchester City suffered a video nasty in front of the Sky cameras at Eastlands as relegation-threatened Watford grabbed a vital Barclays Premiership point.
The Watford keeper's major claim to fame so far is an appearance on the BBC's 'Dragon's Den' programme when he made £150,000 selling 50% of his business 'Dr Cap'.
But, handed his chance by Ben Foster's knee injury, Lee proved he is an able performer on the field too, producing a string of fine saves to deny City.
And, with referee Mark Clattenburg turning down loud appeals for a penalty two minutes from time when Jay Demerit sent Bernardo Corradi tumbling, City were unable to achieve back-to-back Premiership victories for the first time in 14 months.
They do still boast an unbeaten home record but Stuart Pearce will no doubt regard this as another chance missed to push themselves up the league even though a top 10 spot has now been achieved.
Less than a week after breaking their winless sequence away from home, the City fans must have known their unpredictable side would not perform in the manner they hoped.
All the assurance of last week's win over Aston Villa seemed to be lost as the Blues struggled to cope with a limited Watford side's admirable enthusiasm.
Had it not been for Nicky Weaver's agility, Damien Francis would have put the Hornets in front after just seven minutes.
Tommy Smith seemed to lob a cross into the area more in hope than expectation but Francis got superb accuracy with his looping header, forcing Weaver to back-pedal frantically before clawing the ball out.
Lee did equally well to snuff out the danger not long afterwards when Watford failed to deal with Joey Barton's corner.
Despite being virtually on his backside, Lee somehow managed to push the ball away as Richard Dunne, Micah Richards and Georgios Samaras closed in, Gavin Mahon completing the clearance from inside his own six-yard box.
Lee also produced a fine low stop to deny Richards but the enterprising start quickly ground to a halt amid a series of borderline challenges that involved too many elbows and leading arms.
Francis, Barton (twice) and James Chambers all needed treatment as the game became increasingly disjointed, with neither side looking particularly capable of breaking the deadlock.
Richards might have endured a few nervous moments when Francis' glancing header brushed against his arm but referee Clattenburg decided contact had been accidental.
There followed a period of midfield huff and puff that would have embarrassed those who claim the Premiership to be the best league in the world.
True, both sides attempted to push forward but there was an obvious lack of class in the final third.
Only Watford's Ashley Young came up with anything inventive which could be considered out of the ordinary.
Even when Danny Shittu planted a header against the crossbar from Young's corner in first-half stoppage-time, Weaver appeared to have it well covered.
The tedium continued for 20 minutes after the interval until Barton lined up a free-kick on the corner of the box.
City's budding England star let fly with a low curling effort that seemed certain to end up in the net until Lee got down magnificently to turn it away.
If that was not enough, the Watford keeper scrambled to his feet to block Corradi's attempt to hook the ball back into the danger zone.
The hosts continued to look more like getting a winner but the optimism was sapped from their legs when Corradi's pleas for a late penalty met only with a firm shake of the head from Clattenburg.
FA Cup third round draw:Crystal Palace v StokeBrighton v NewcastleTottenham v CoventryWigan v BournemouthFulham v BlackpoolAston Villa v IpswichCharlton v HuddersfieldMacclesfield v CardiffBarnsley v BurnleyManchester City v WatfordSwansea v ArsenalLeicester v BurtonMillwall v PrestonCheltenham v EvertonDerby v TranmereCrawley v ReadingAldershot v RotherhamMiddlesbrough v HastingsOxford v Sheffield UnitedSouthampton v ChelseaQPR v West BromPeterborough v NorwichMansfield v LiverpoolBolton v SunderlandNottingham Forest v OldhamWest Ham v Manchester UnitedHull v Leyton OrientBlackburn v Bristol CityLeeds v BirminghamSouthend v BrentfordLuton v WolvesSheffield Wednesday v MK Dons Man City Squad1.Hart2.Richards3.Maicon4.Kompany5.Zabaleta6.Lescott7.Milner8.Nasri10.Dzeko11.Sinclair13.Kolarov14.Garcia16.Aguero17.Rodwell18.Barry21.Silva22.Clichy28.Toure K29.Wright R30.Pantilimon32.Tevez33.Nastasic36.Suarez37.Nielsen42.Toure Y43.Nimely44.Rekik45.Balotelli46.Johnson M47.Bunn49.Scapuzzi53.Henshall56.Meppen-Walters60.Guidetti62.Razak63.Johansen66.Lopes70.Evans
Source: Manchester City MAD
Source: FOOTYMAD
