Ismaila Sarr equaliser earns Watford Newcastle United draw

The Hornets were fortunate not to be at least two goals behind by the break and struggled for much of the contest.

But the Magpies were to pay the price for not killing the game off as Sarr headed home from a corner, and the hosts thought they’d snatched a late winner, only for VAR to disallow the goal for offside.

The Hornets fell behind when Sean Longstaff struck a shot well from outside the area but the diving Ben Foster will have been disappointed by the manner in which the ball went through his gloves.

An Sarr shot aside though, the hosts struggled after falling behind and lacked any real control in midfield to build attacks from.

They were also making unforced errors, one of which really should have led to a second Newcastle goal shortly before the interval following a bad back pass from Craig Cathcart but Longstaff somehow contrived to fire over an unguarded net.

Foster was the busier keeper after the break as Newcastle had other chances to score and they were made to rue not capitalising on at least one of them when a Danny Rose corner was flicked on by Joshua King and Sarr did the rest.

It looked like the Hornets had snatched the win with three minutes remaining when King pounced from close range after Karl Darlow had parried a Moussa Sissoko shot, but the goal was ruled out for offside.

With Kiko Femenia available again after being ruled out of the midweek Carabao Cup defeat to Stoke City, Xisco Munoz opted to name the same side that won 3-1 at Norwich City last weekend. The fit again Joao Pedro was named on the bench for the first time this season.

It looked like Steve Bruce would be forced into two changes to the side that drew 1-1 with Leeds United last time out after he had ruled Joe Willock out in his pre-match press conference. However, the former Arsenal midfielder was able to start, meaning the only alteration came in defence with Federico Fernandez replacing the injured Jamaal Lascelles.

The Hornets were quickly out of the blocks and had the first opening inside 90 seconds when Juraj Kucka won possession in midfield and burst forward and fed King who slipped in Emmanuel Dennis on the left side of the area, but his angled effort was blocked by the chest of Darlow.

The first chants of ‘we want Brucey out’ rang out with less than five minutes on the clock as Newcastle’s first foray into the opposition area broke down, but Kucka’s attempt to a lead a counter-attack was curtailed when referee Jarred Gillett stopped play after the Slovakian had caught Miguel Almiron with a high arm.

Gillett, who was making history as the first overseas referee to officiate in the Premier League, upset plenty of the home faithful when he penalised Sarr for a foul on Joelinton when the offence looked to have been committed the other way.

The Magpies’ first period of sustained pressure came from a passage of four successive corners, but the most dangerous proved to be the third one which saw a looping Ciaran Clark header helped over by Foster.

Dennis picked up a needless yellow card in the 17th minute for hauling down Longstaff but the card count was quickly levelled up when Javier Manquillo was booked for taking Rose out as the full-back sought to break into the area.

Chants of ‘you don’t know what you’re doing’ then rang out when Tom Cleverley was penalised for a high boot on Darlow on the left side of the area, although the Hornets skipper came off much worse in the collision.

It was the visitors who made the breakthrough midway through the half when they kept play alive on the left side of the pitch following a corner from the other side and Allan Saint-Maximin rolled the ball back to Longstaff. The midfielder had the space to advance and struck his right-foot shot well enough, but the diving Foster will have been disappointed with how the strike seemed to burst through his gloves.

Matt Ritchie could have no complaints about the booking he received after 30 minutes for hauling back Sarr by his waist on halfway. Soon after, Darlow was diving to his right to keep out the Senegal winger’s low drive from the edge of the area after he had come off the right flank and attacked inside.

The Hornets’ next effort came from a Kucka free-kick from 25 yards that was deflected not too far wide of Darlow’s right-hand upright.

William Troost-Ekong was the next player to be booked for upending Willock on the right edge of the area five minutes before the interval after the midfielder had got away from Kucka with rather too much ease.

The resultant free-kick was whipped in by Ritchie and flicked over the top by Almiron as Newcastle finished the half strongly, with Willock hitting the side netting after again getting the better of Troost-Ekong.

And that strong finish really should have resulted in a second goal in the last minute of normal time as Watford survived a huge let off when Cathcart sold Foster woefully short with a back pass, Saint-Maximin nipped in and squared for Longstaff, who looked to have the easiest of finishes into an unguarded net, only to put it horribly over the top.

The Hornets had struggled to get control of midfield in the first half and it was no surprise to see a change was made, although Ozan Tufan was a concussion substitute for Cleverley.

Within a minute though, the Turkish international needed treatment after a hefty, but fair, challenge by Isaac Hayden, but was soon back in the game again.

Watford started the second period positively but were unable to make any real attacking inroads in the opening 10 minutes after the restart, picking up their third booking shortly after when Rose chopped down Almiron near the edge of the penalty area. Ritchie could only hit the free-kick into the wall though, before blasting the follow up harmlessly wide.

King hit a shot on the turn over at the other end and, soon after, led a charge downfield on the counter but he chose to go it alone rather than play in Dennis to his left and the opportunity ultimately broke down.

Pedro made his return to action as a 64th-minute replacement for Kucka and Jeremy Ngakia then came on for Femenia. In between times though, Foster had to dive to his right to keep out a shot from Almiron and then dealt with Joelinton’s follow up.

Newcastle were pushing for a second and it was Willock who almost got it with 67 minutes on the clock but Foster stood big and was able to make the save.

Cathcart was booked for a foul on Almiron as the Magpies’ attacks kept coming, this time Willock shooting over from the edge of the area.

Newcastle were soon to rue not capitalising on taking one of their chances as the Hornets equalised through Sarr’s fourth of the season.

A Rose corner from the left was superbly flicked across the face of the six-yard box by Rose at the near post and Sarr came it unmarked at the back post to thump a header firmly into the net.

Munoz instantly moved to shore up the midfield, bringing on Peter Etebo for Dennis, but it was the visitors who were to go closest next when a Ritchie cross from the left picked out the stretching Clark at the back post, only to head wide from six yards out.

Watford thought they had won it with three minutes of normal time remaining when Rose did well to retain possession on the left before laying a pass inside to Sissoko, he advanced before hitting a right-footed shot which Darlow could only parry and King pounced to convert from close range.

However, the celebrations were soon curtailed as VAR showed King was in an offside position when Sissoko hit the shot and 1-1 it remained.

After Darlow had been booked for time wasting, Cathcart made a crucial interception before a Tufan pass almost put Sarr in but the Newcastle keeper got to the ball ahead of him and received a clip on his head for his troubles.

An incredible passage of play in injury time saw both sides almost snatch it.

First Saint-Maximin sent Jacob Murphy through one-one-one but the substitute never looked convincing as he closed in on Foster, ultimately trying a dinked finish which the keeper dealt with.

Moments later, King was inches away from connecting with a driven cross from the left as both sides were forced to settle for a share of the spoils.

Watford: Foster; Femenia (Ngakia 66), Troost-Ekong, Cathcart, Rose; Sissoko, Kucka (Pedro 64); Sarr, Cleverley (Tufan 46), Dennis (Etebo 75); King. Subs not used: Elliot, Masina, Sema, Kabasele, Hernandez.

Newcastle United: Darlow; Manquillo, Fernandez, Clark, Ritchie; Hayden; Willock (Gayle 81), S Longstaff; Almiron (Murphy 78), Saint-Maximin, Joelinton. Subs not used: Gillespie, Schar, Lewis, Hendrick, Krafth, Fraser, Anderson.

Bookings: Dennis for a foul on S Longstaff (17); Manquillo for a foul on Rose (19); Ritchie for a foul on Sarr (30); Troost-Ekong for a foul on Willock (41); Rose for a foul on Almiron (56); Cathcart for a foul on Almiron (69); Darlow for time wasting (90).

Attendance: 20,690.

Referee: Jarred Gillett.