Troy Deeney scores twice late on as Watford come from behind to beat Aston Villa

Villa looked set to secure only their second away league win of the season – and first since the opening day – for most of the contest until, helped by the introduction of Steven Berghuis, the home side turned it around at the death to make mathematically certain of their place in the Premier League next season.

The Hornets’ early play offered encouragement but it increasingly became subdued and lacking in intensity and urgency as well as any real creativity and variation.

It might have turned out differently had Ben Watson’s 24th-minute cracker dropped a couple of inches lower and found the top corner and not the crossbar, but instead of going in front Watford were soon chasing the game as Ciaran Clark headed in from a corner.

It could very easily have got worse before the interval as the woodwork came to the home side’s rescue when a Jordan Ayew header struck a post. However, Flores’ men were to be back on terms by the break as Almen Abdi curled in a fine injury-time free-kick.

Given Villa’s dreadful season, most observers would have expected the Hornets to kick on after the break. But it didn’t happen.

Within three minutes of the restart, the visitors were in front as Ayew fired a crisp finish past Heurelho Gomes from the edge of the area and 60 seconds later the visitors could have had a third as Watford were opened up horribly but Rudy Gestede’s composure let him down when he needed it most.

The Hornets kept plugging away but without any great conviction and it looked increasingly like they were drifting to their lowest ebb of the season.

But after Villa had been reduced to ten men when Aly Cissokho was sent off for denying a clear goalscoring opportunity, substitute Berghuis was beginning to have an increasingly influential effect on proceedings. And it was from his superb last-minute cross that Deeney headed in the equaliser before the skipper snatched an improbable come-from-behind victory in injury time with a fine finish.

Flores made four changes from the side that disappointed in Sunday’s FA Cup semi-final against Crystal Palace, but once again opted against trying anything different in midfield and bringing in any natural width.

Instead, he decided to rely on the full-backs to bring that to the side as Juan Carlos Paredes and Ikechi Anya were included. Gomes returned in goal, while Mario Suarez replaced the injured Etienne Capoue and Odion Ighalo, as expected, started despite the death of his father last weekend. However, there was no place in the match-day 18 for either Valon Behrami or Jose Holebas.

Relegated Villa came into the game off the back of ten straight league defeats and caretaker boss Eric Black made four changes from the side that was beaten 4-2 by Southampton last time and switched to a five-man defence.

There was a change in goal as Mark Bunn replaced Brad Guzan, while Clark, Kevin Toner and Gestede also started. Carlos Sanchez and Scott Sinclair dropped to the bench and Micah Richards missed out through injury.

There was plenty of vocal support for Flores from before kick-off and the Hornets started positively, with Suarez lifting the home side’s first effort of the afternoon over from around 20 yards inside two minutes.

The Hornets were content to keep possession ticking over in the early stages and Deeney got on the end of a Jose Manuel Jurado cross from the left in the seventh minute, but his header lacked power and direction and Bunn was able to comfortably gather.

Watford’s next opening came when Miguel Britos’ attempted through ball to Deeney was intercepted by Clark, but Jurado nipped in to dispossess the Villa defender and accelerated into the left side of the penalty area but his low cross was just too far ahead of Ighalo.

The Nigerian striker then saw a shot blocked away for a corner following some neat footwork as the hosts continued to press for the breakthrough. But having got the initiative in the game, Watford went into something of a lull until Ighalo forced Bunn into a blocking save with his legs at the near post.

That was a reasonable chance but what followed was almost a goal out of relatively nothing in the 24th minute as Watson brought the ball down in plenty of space 25 yards out and struck a superb right-footed half-volley that beat Bunn but rebounded over off the crossbar.

But instead of taking the lead, the Hornets were to find themselves behind two minutes later. After Craig Cathcart had taken no risks to put a cross behind for a corner, the Hornets didn’t do their jobs properly at the back and Clark was allowed to rise relatively unchallenged at the near post to flick home a header and give Villa the lead. It was the first time they had done so away from home in the Premier League since December.

Watford sought an instant response, with Deeney almost connecting with a mis-hit Abdi shot from the edge of the area, but the home side soon reverted to much of their play of the first half showing a lack of pace, spark and accuracy of execution when it was required in the final third.

Indeed the home side very nearly found themselves two behind at the break when Cissokho scampered down the left and his cross picked out the unmarked Ayew, whose diving header beat the dive of Gomes and struck his right-hand post.

Prior to that, Leandra Bacuna had been booked for a foul on Anya and in first-half stoppage-time Idrissa Gueye joined him after taking out Abdi. It was to prove a costly mistake as the Swiss midfielder impressively curled a 25-yard free-kick up and over the wall and into the bottom corner to score a much-needed equaliser after a 45-minute display that was poor for a large part.

But Watford were not to be level for long after the restart as within three minutes Ayew worked a nice give-and-go with Gestede as he drove towards the edge of the area before driving a crisp right-footed shot beyond Gomes to make it 2-1.

And 60 seconds later it could, and arguably should have got even worse for the home side when Villa broke and made the most of some hapless Hornets defending to play the ball to Gestede in space on the right side of the 18-yard box, but he got his attempted finish badly wrong and fired over.

Something had to be done and Flores acted in the 57th minute, bringing on Berghuis for Paredes, meaning Abdi moved to right-back.

Two minutes after the change Watford weren’t far away from equalising from Deeney met a Jurado corner from the left with a flicked downward header which was cleared off the line.

But Villa had another good chance in the 65th minute when Ashley Westwood clipped a free-kick into the area and Toner got in behind the defence but couldn’t direct his header on target. Soon after, Gestede saw what looked to be an on-target effort blocked by Cathcart following a cross from the right.

The visitors continued to look the more confident and cohesive side as Flores made a second change, bringing on Nordin Amrabat for Jurado, but the home were looking in increasing need of something to galvanise them.

They were given a lift with 16 minutes remaining when Watson’s weighted clearance downfield sent Anya scampering away and through on goal. The Scotland international nicked the ball away from Cissokho to open up a clear opportunity and referee Anthony Taylor adjudged he was tripped by the Villa defender. A red card was the only outcome, but Abdi couldn’t capitalise from a free-kick for the second time in the match as his low strike was blocked by the wall and the follow-up deflected behind.

Bunn and Berghuis added to the card count for time wasting and a foul respectively before Villa made their first change as Sanchez replaced Ayew.

Watford tried to push on as the game entered the last ten minutes of normal time, with Deeney and Ighalo narrowly failing to connect with crosses. The succession of balls into the visitors’ area continued, but they either lacked the requisite quality or were dealt with by competent Villa defending.

Berghuis had looked a threat since coming on and two minutes from the end he came in off the right flank and fired a shot wide of the far post. But it was the Dutchman who was to create the equaliser shortly after, drifting in a superb cross from the right which Deeney read and planted a firm header beyond the helpless Bunn to make it 2-2.

Five minutes of injury time afforded the Hornets further hope and three minutes into it the Hornets’ Birmingham City-supporting captain ended Villa’s hopes for the second time this season.

Suarez played a pass into the area into the feet of Ighalo, he controlled it and laid it back and Deeney didn’t have to break stride as he swept a low right-footed shot beyond Bunn to win it and the atmosphere inside Vicarage Road changed in an instant.

Watford: Gomes; Paredes (Berghuis 57), Cathcart, Britos, Anya; Abdi, Suarez, Watson, Jurado (Amrabat 71); Deeney, Ighalo. Not used: Pantilimon, Nyom, Prodl, Ake, Guedioura.

Aston Villa: Bunn; Hutton, Clark, Lescott, Toner, Cissokho; Westwood, Bacuna, Gueye (Sinclair 88); Ayew (Sanchez 78); Gestede. Not used: Guzan, Richards, Veretout, Gil, Grealish.

Bookings: Bacuna for a foul on Anya (42); Gueye for a foul on Abdi (45); Cissokho sent off for denying an obvious goalscoring opportunity (74); Bunn for time wasting (76); Berghuis for a foul on Westwood (78); Abdi for a foul on Gueye (82).

Attendance: 20,653.

Referee: Anthony Taylor.