MX23RW : Thursday, November 28 13:38:35| >> :120:55454:55454:
[monks data]
Attendance: 30,222
Sheffield United logo
Premier League | Gameweek 19
Dec 26, 2019 at 3pm UK
 
Watford logo

1-1

Norwood (36' pen.)
FT(HT: 1-1)
Deulofeu (27')

Nigel Pearson heaps praise on Ben Foster after Sheffield United draw

Nigel Pearson heaps praise on Ben Foster after Sheffield United draw
© Reuters
The Watford boss praised his struggling side's resilience.

Watford boss Nigel Pearson hailed an "unbelievable" save by Ben Foster after the goalkeeper starred in their 1-1 draw at Sheffield United.

Foster produced one of the saves of the season as the Hornets' recent revival continued with an away point on Boxing Day.

The former England goalkeeper kept his team in the match with a superb stop from point-blank range to deny John Fleck just after the hour at Bramall Lane.

Lys Mousset traded passes with David McGoldrick before delivering a pin-point cross into the area for Fleck, who connected with the ball sweetly. It seemed a certain goal, but Foster somehow clawed the shot away from on his line to keep the score at 1-1.

It remained that way and the points were shared after Oliver Norwood's penalty cancelled out Gerard Deulofeu's opener for Watford, who climbed off the bottom of the Premier League table with the point in South Yorkshire.

Pearson said: "There were a couple of really good saves from him and one unbelievable one for sure.

"It's important that players can contribute in the way that they're selected to do. For such an experienced goalkeeper who has the fire in his belly to go out there and perform, he's the type of player you can look in the eyes every day when you work with him and you know he will do what he can on any given day to deliver.

"But I think for all the possession and pressure that Sheffield United had, we still kept them at arm's length to a certain extent.

"I wouldn't try and suggest that we were on top of the game, but we had our moments and we made it difficult for Sheffield United to find that winner and the important thing for me is the fact that we showed some real traits of resilience in what is a difficult place to come.

"The mantra is, I suppose, if you can't win it then don't get beaten. We had to dig our heels in today and we had to be resilient and sometimes ride our luck, but we go away with something for our efforts."

Blades boss Chris Wilder felt his team were below their best and thought a draw was a fair result.

"We were a little bit flat, said Wilder. "We weren't at full tilt today and we weren't at out best.

"When we're at our best you always feel it's coming, it's coming, it's coming. But I never felt that today. It's disappointing because we fell short of the bar we've set ourselves. It was a sort of mediocre-average performance in my view.

"So with that in mind, it was a fair result. It was always going to be a tough game and we huffed and puffed, but we couldn't find that pass or that final finish.

"We made bad decisions and went a bit individual, so we could never build momentum."

ID:384098: cacheID:384098:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:4225:No Data Analysis info
Restore Data
Share this article now:
Watford boss Nigel Pearson pictured during the Premier League clash against Manchester United on December 22, 2019
Read Next:
Watford boss Pearson ready to make changes for festive fixtures
>
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Leeds UnitedLeeds17105231121935
2Sheffield UnitedSheff Utd1711422491535
3Burnley179622161533
4Sunderland1796226121433
5Watford179262624229
6Middlesbrough178362920927
7West Bromwich AlbionWest Brom176921811727
8Blackburn RoversBlackburn167452017325
9Millwall166641914524
10Norwich CityNorwich175753125622
11Swansea CitySwansea176471615122
12Bristol City175752021-122
13Sheffield WednesdaySheff Weds176472026-622
14Stoke CityStoke175661920-121
15Derby CountyDerby175572122-120
16Luton TownLuton175391829-1118
17Coventry CityCoventry174582225-317
18Oxford UnitedOxford Utd174581927-817
19Preston North EndPreston173861624-817
20Plymouth ArgylePlymouth174581834-1617
21Cardiff CityCardiff174491526-1116
22Hull City173681623-715
23Queens Park RangersQPR172871526-1114
24Portsmouth152671628-1212


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!