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  • Kick-off: 20:00
  • Venue: Vicarage Road Stadium
  • Attendance: 17982
  • Referee: Riley, M

Live Commentary

90mins

FULL TIME: WATFORD 3-3 FULHAM: Riley blows up for full time as both sides settle for a share of the points.

89mins

WATFORD 3-3 FULHAM (YOUNG): Watford amazingly get back on level terms again when Young fires home from the edge of the box.

88mins

Francis is replaced by Darius Henderson.

87mins

WATFORD 2-3 FULHAM (FRANCIS): Francis fires the ball in the back of his own net as Watford fail to clear a ball into the box.

83mins

WATFORD 2-2 FULHAM (HELGUSON): Helguson heads home from close range as the Watford defence fails to cope with a long ball pumped into the box.

80mins

Radzinski whips in a cross from the left but the cross is just too high for Helguson and the ball goes out for a goal kick.

78mins

The Hornets break to the edge of the box but Young can only blast his shot over the bar.

76mins

Watford make a change as Matthew Spring comes on to the field to replace Tommy Smith.

75mins

Watford win a free kick down the right but the cross has too much on it and goes out for a goalkick.

74mins

Radzinski is the latest player to go into the book as the game starts to hot up.

71mins

WATFORD 2-1 FULHAM (MCBRIDE): Fulham are back in it as McBride latches on to Routledge's cross before firing the ball into the corner of the net from 10 yards out.

70mins

Mahon launches a long throw into the box but Riley spots an infringement and the danger passes for Fulham.

67mins

Pearce goes into the book after having words with the linesman.

65mins

Routledge is caught just offside as Fulham try to push forward again.

63mins

Brown almost gets his shot away from close range but a good last ditch tackle by Shittu saves the day.

62mins

Fulham make their third and final change as Tomasz Radzinski comes on to replace Volz

60mins

Fulham almost get one back but Foster does well to deny Helguson's powerful shot from inside the box.

59mins

Fulham make their second change as Brian McBride comes on to replace John.

58mins

Watford carve Fulham open again but Smith is caught just offside much to the relief of Fulham.

55mins

Zat Knight tries his luck from range but his shot goes miles wide of the target.

53mins

Wayne Routledge comes on to replace Carlos Bocanegra for Fulham.

50mins

Helguson goes into the book following a late challenge.

49mins

Watford have a spring in their step after doubling their lead and are passing the ball around nicely.

46mins

WATFORD 2-0 FULHAM (YOUNG): Young makes it 2-0 to Fulham when sliding in at the far post after Bouazza breaks down the left and whips in a low cross.

45mins

The Second half gets underway.

45mins

HALF TIME: WATFORD 1-0 FULHAM: Riley blows up for half time as Watford lead by a goal to nil.

44mins

Watford break again down the right but Young's cross is wasteful to say the least and goes out for a goalkick.

42mins

King has the sniff of an opportunity in the box but cannot connect and the danger passes.

39mins

Watford try to break down the left but the pass is too big for Young and goes out for a Fulham goalkick.

37mins

The visitors are having their best spell of the game but again the delivery from a free kick is poor and Foster gathers the ball.

35mins

Fulham push again and earn a corner but Foster is on hand to punch clear the cross.

32mins

Fulham earn another free kick down the right but Danny Shittu manages to head clear Queudrue's fierce cross.

30mins

Mahon goes in the book for pulling down Volz and from the free-kick Queudrue fires his shot just wide of the post.

29mins

The corner comes to nothing as referee Mike Riley spots a push in the box.

28mins

Bouazza's shot takes a defelection before trickling just wide of the post for a corner.

27mins

Gavin Mahon tries his luck from range but his dipping shot goes just over the bar.

25mins

Fulham almost hit back straight away when Michael Brown's shot fizzes just over the bar.

23mins

WATFORD 1-0 FULHAM (KING): King fires Watford in front when latching on to a pass from Ashley Young before firing home from close range.

19mins

King picks up the ball 20 yards out from goal but his shot is disappointing and goes well wide of the post.

17mins

Volz misses a great chance after springing the offside trap but his attempt at goal is poor and goes out for a goalkick.

15mins

Tommy Smith breaks down the right as Watford continue to push but his cross is headed clear.

12mins

Hameur Bouazza almost breaks the deadlock but his shot is parried by Antti Niemi and the danger is cleared.

9mins

Marlon King is caught just offside at the other end as Watford try to get into the game.

7mins

Collins John is caught just offside again as Fulham continue to push forward.

5mins

Ben Foster pulls off a fine save to deny Helguson but the linesman's flag is up anyway and Watford are off the hook.

4mins

Watford force a corner at the other end but the cross into the box is poor and Fulham are allowed to clear.

3mins

Fulham push again but Moritz Volz slips in the box and the opportunity goes begging.

2mins

Fulham go on the attack down the right but Liam Rosenior's cross is poor and the danger passes.

1mins

The game gets underway as Watford try to build up play down the left but Fulham break up the attack and regain possession.

0mins

Watford name an unchanged side as they go in search of their first win of the season, while Fulham are at full strength as they look to push into the top half of the table.Watford name an unchanged side as they go in search of their first win

Match Report

Watford should be celebrating their first Premiership win but after letting a comfortable two-goal lead become a one-goal deficit in a mad final 20 minutes at Vicarage Road they had Ashley Young to thank for ensuring six goals were evenly shared.

Young's opening goal, less than 15 seconds after the restart and following Marlon King's first-half opener, looked to have been sufficient to pick up the points against an ineffective Fulham side, but Chris Coleman's decision to go for broke and introduce Brian McBride and Tomasz Radzinski proved inspired.

McBride reduced the deficit to 2-1 before Heidar Helguson levelled against his former club and then Damien Francis put through his own net to seemingly snatch defeat from the jaws of victory for winless Watford. However, the Hornets have already proved they are not easy to beat in the top-flight and they did so once again when Young netted an excellent volley at the death.

After a scrappy but high-tempo opening, the Hornets began to take a grip on proceedings and an incisive counter-attacking move nearly broke the deadlock. Francis and Young dovetailed neatly in midfield to send Tommy Smith free on the right. His cross towards the edge of the penalty area was nodded back to Hameur Bouazza whose left-footed strike was parried by Antti Niemi before the danger was cleared.

However, Fulham had an opening of their own soon after when Papa Bouba Diop's clever pass put Moritz Volz in behind Dan Shittu but the midfielder missed the target after clipping the ball beyond keeper Ben Foster.

But after King had fired narrowly wide from 20 yards, last season's leading Championship scorer made no mistake with his next attempt to give Watford the all-important lead. Bouazza found Young in space around 30 yards from goal and the England Under-21 international delivered a pass to the right side of the area where King got goalside of Franck Queudrue and brought the ball under control before firing it into the ground and past Niemi.

Gavin Mahon and Bouazza, in particular with a drive deflected narrowly wide, might have doubled the home side's advantage before the interval, but it took less than 15 seconds of the second half for number two to arrive as Fulham were caught cold after the restart.

Volz was the visitors' villain, losing the ball to King, who in turn found Mahon. His inch-perfect throughball set Bouazza free on the left side of the area and the French striker squared for Young to slide home.

Coleman wasted no time in reacting to the setback though, making three changes in nine minutes and switching to a three-pronged strikeforce of Helguson, McBride and Radzinski. All three were to make a key impression.

McBride almost set up Helguson for a goal with his first touch, but after 70 minutes he was in the right place to capitalise on the failure of Malky Mackay and Jay DeMerit to deal with a Wayne Routledge cross and cracked a half-volley past Foster.

Watford still looked in control after that setback but with eight minutes remaining they were beaten at their own game. Foster has developed a reputation as a keeper who puts opposition defences under pressure with his long clearances, but on this occasion it was Niemi who launched the ball towards the opposition area, Bouba Diop flicked on, Radzinski did very well to keep the ball in play and hook it back across goal for Helguson to nod home against his old club.

The effect that had on the home side was evidenced by a catalogue of defensive errors four minutes later that led to Francis, under pressure from Helguson, slamming the ball into his own net when attempting to find touch.

But one quality Watford do not lack is character and, if Fulham thought they had successfully come back from the dead, they were given a very rude awakening in the last minute. Jordan Stewart launched a long ball towards the opposition area, Bouba Diop inadvertently flicked the ball across his own area and Young met it with the sweetest of volleys to crash the equaliser past the helpless Niemi.

Watford

Fulham

Corners

32

Fouls

2412

Goal attempts

99

Shots off target

56

Offsides

610

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