"Do not scratch your eyes...you are really seeing the most extraordinary finish here!"
Eight years ago today Troy Deeney scored *THAT* goal, arguably his most famous in a Watford shirt, against Leicester City in a playoff semi final.
With the scoreline at 2-1 to the Hornets, and 2-2 on aggregate, the Foxes were awarded a penalty deep into added on time, seemingly putting an end to Watford's hopes of an appearance in the final.
The home fans inside Vicarage Road that day could not have imagined the next 18 seconds of football in their wildest dreams.
Anthony Knockaert stepped up to take the spot kick, but his badly-struck effort was straight down the middle and Manuel Almunia, who had already dived to his left, was able to adjust and save with his feet before reacting well enough to keep out the Frenchman a second time from the rebound.
From there, pandemonium ensued.
Marco Cassetti scrambled the ball clear before it was worked out to Fernando Forestieri on the right hand side, via Ikechi Anya. His cross was headed back into the box by fellow substitute on the day Jonathan Hogg and that's where Deeney wrote his name into the club's history books.
The striker smashed the ball past Kasper Schmeichel, sending Watford to the final of the playoffs and bringing jubilant scenes to Vicarage Road.
The players were in the stands, Gianfranco Zola was mobbed by supporters who had flooded the pitch and everyone in the ground was in disbelief.
Unfortunately, the Hornets were dealt a bitter blow in the final, losing to Crystal Palace and a goal by their former striker Kevin Phillips, but the goal in the semi final is one that lives long in the memories of football fans everywhere.
#OnThisDay in 2013, the Championship Play-Offs saw one of the greatest sequences in modern football history. End to end, chocker with drama, and Troy "DEEENEEEEYY!" Deeney there to cap it all off...pic.twitter.com/LUkWu3jeEP
— MUNDIAL (@MundialMag) May 12, 2021
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