Troy Deeney believes his 97th minute play-off winner for Watford ranks second among the greatest moments in English football history.
The Hornets legend spent 11 years at Vicarage Road and provided fans with an unforgettable moment when he bagged the winning goal in their Championship play-off semi-final against Leicester City in 2013.
With Watford 2-1 up in the game and the score level at 2-2 on aggregate, the Foxes were awarded a controversial penalty in the 97th minute, with Anthony Knockaert stepping up to potentially send his side to Wembley.
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The Frenchman’s poor spot-kick was saved by ex-Arsenal goalkeeper Manuel Almunia, who went on to deny the winger for a second time in his rebound effort. Marco Cassetti then cleared the ball which sparked a Watford counter-attack in the final seconds of the thrilling clash.
With the ball reached Fernando Forestieri on the right flank, who aimed a cross into the box for Jonathan Hogg, only for Kasper Schmeichel to jump towards him as the ball dropped to his feet.
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The ex-Aston Villa midfielder smartly knocked the ball down into the path of Deeney who slammed the ball home past Schmeichel to clinch Watford’s place in the play-off final against Crystal Palace in one of the all-time scenes in English football.
The skipper instantly took his top off before jumping into the raucous crowd, leaving Vicarage Road in utter chaos with the travelling Leicester fans heartbroken.
(Image: Offside via Getty Images)
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Deeney – who left Watford in 2021 to join boyhood club Birmingham City – believes his iconic goal ranks second only to Sergio Aguero’s title-winning strike for Manchester City against Queens Park Rangers in 2011 in greatest footballing moments.
“I was able to have a moment and I don’t think many people have moments in their career, I think it’s second to Aguero’s [goal] in English football, personally,” he said on That Peter Crouch Podcast.
(Image: Offside via Getty Images)
“You might think I’m being arrogant and you can tell me to f*** off, no problem, but is there any other moments other than those two where you can remember exactly where you were when you saw it [and] what you were doing?”
Watford ended up losing 1-0 to Palace in the final but earned automatic promotion to the Premier League two years later in their 2014/15 campaign.