Watford, through the play of goalkeeper Ben Foster, survived a fast attacking, Brighton squad to salvage a 0-0 draw.
It was the heroics of Foster that saw the Hornets hold off a Brighton squad that fired 21 shots against the keeper. The Seagulls put together some well co-ordinated early attacks that saw Jurgen Locadia come close, but Foster batted the ball wide.
Heading into the break, Brighton were the better of the sides, on the pitch, but it would be Ken Sema who put a headed chance over Brighton’s goal as Watford struggled to finish in the final third.
There was a flurry of activity in the final 10 minutes of the game, as Watford were confined to their defensive third, as Brighton continued to pressure Foster. The Englishman continued to keep the Seagulls out, tipping over a second Locadia headed attempt, soon after clearing a Shane Duffy attempt with his foot, pushing it around the post.
Florian Andone broke through with a chance to win it for the Seagulls in the final moments, but Foster came up with his final save of the day, as each team took a point.
Ben Foster super on the day
This has arguably been Ben Foster’s best season playing in the Premier League. The Watford keeper has posted six clean sheets throughout the season making 78 saves. During the midweek game at Wembley, in a 2-1 loss to Spurs, Foster became the goalkeeper with the most saves in the division, 1,012, surpassing Petr Cech in the process.
“I don’t know whether that’s a good thing or not, to be honest, it shows I have been a busy goalkeeper throughout my career, and also I’m very old,” remarked Foster. He rejoined the Hornets in July 2018, his second stint with the club, after arriving on loan from Manchester United between 2005-2007. His experience has helped form the basis of Watford’s defence, which has struggled at times, but Foster has been behind to bail them out.
Today, it was Foster that kept the Hornets in the tie, picking up a point and keeping a clean sheet after being consistently peppered by Brighton. “I think all of you know better than me Ben Foster has had a brilliant career and I know he’s enjoying working with us day by day, with a smile on his face and with a very good character and I think it’s good for the rest of the team,” said Javi Gracia.
Seagulls crawling to safety
With the draw today against Watford, Brighton remain 13th in the league table with 27 points. Currently eight points above the relegation zone. Chris Hughton’s team have only had a single win in their last 11 games and against Watford were unlucky not to come away with all three points.
Just two wins away from The Amex Stadium this season has caused Hughton to stress the importance of picking up wins at home. “I still feel that if we are to stay in the Premier League this season it will be very much down to our home form,” said Hughton.
This is arguably the best run of fixtures for the Seagulls as seven of their last thirteen, including four of their next six games, are at home. Leicester City are the only club outside the top six that have defeated the Seagulls at the Amex Stadium in 30 matches. “It’s a fabulous record and it’s an achievement that kept us in the Premier League last season.”
Watford need to be more clinical
According to the Premier League website, Watford leads the line in most big chances missed with 37. Today was another day in which the Hornets finished the game with zero shots on target. Not the only time it’s happened this year, and it continues to cause frustration. “I think we need to be more demanding to be more clinical in those situations. We try to create the situations where the players can finish because they have the quality to do it,” said manager, Javi Gracia.
We’ve seen some brilliant goals from Watford this season, from players like Roberto Pereyra and Gerard Deulofeu, but both have struggled recently. The two midfielders have combined for just 11 attempts on goal, with Deulofeu putting only one of those on target. This is the second time this season Watford haven’t put a single shot on target; the two previous games against Liverpool and Newcastle produced a combined total of two shots on target.
Man of the Match: Ben Foster
It was another excellent game for Watford goalkeeper, Ben Foster, who received the man of the match honours. He leads the Hornets defence making four saves on the day from 21 shots by Brighton. “Today I think in the second half when Brighton played better was the moment when Ben saved us, but it’s not a surprise. I know he’s a very good keeper and a very important player for us and it’s nothing that I didn’t already know,” said Javi Gracia.
