Watford 1-1 Southampton
by Layth Yousif
at Vicarage Road

A LAST-GASP equaliser for Southampton by Stuart Armstrong denied Watford a trip to Liverpool in the fifth round of the FA Cup.

Valerie Ismael’s side had led for the majority of this fourth round clash following Matheus Martins’s early opener this afternoon in Hertfordshire. 

Martins, a 20-year-old former Fluminense winger, now on loan at Vicarage Road via Udinese, fired home after only five minutes.

However, with the televised FA Cup draw delayed due to crowd trouble at The Hawthorns during the West Midlands derby between West Brom and Wolverhampton Wanderers, both Saints and Watford were unexpectedly handed the prize draw around the hour mark of their match. 

Yet Armstrong’s late leveller that ensured the stalemate has meant that a replay is set to take place on the south coast in two weeks’ time — in a match that neither side would welcome in an already busy schedule. 

Certainly not with Russell Martin’s Southampton team coming into the clash sitting in third spot in the Championship, riding high on the back of a club record run — with the Hornets in 10th place, a mere three points off the play-offs.

Saints boss Martin will be rueing his side’s inability to convert a raft of second half chances, as the draw meant that Watford fans in Vicarage Road’s Sir Elton John Stand still have dreams of their Yellow Brick Road to Anfield — and a small walk-on part in Jurgen Klopp’s farewell tour. 

That prospect alone keeps plenty of interest in the side’s fourth round replay.