Michael Obafemi scrambles home late leveller as Burnley are held by Watford

Posted Wednesday, February 15, 2023 by PA

Burnley had a last-gasp goal from Michael Obafemi to thank as their amazing recent form stuttered in a 1-1 draw against Watford.

A first-half finish from Joao Pedro gave the Hornets the lead but Vincent Kompany’s men escaped with a point after Obafemi popped up deep into stoppage time.

Watford arrived in Lancashire as one of only two sides to have defeated the Clarets this season, winning 1-0 back in August at Vicarage Road.

That was also the last time Burnley had not scored in a match, a statistic alone that helps highlight just how dominant Kompany’s side have been this term.

Indeed, Burnley were chasing history at home as they went in search of an 11th straight league victory.

But Watford were in no mood to help the Clarets achieve that goal as they dug deep and nearly won until Obafemi’s 95th-minute equaliser.

Burnley nearly took the lead after just 38 seconds when Ashley Barnes’ shot from outside the box was superbly tipped onto the crossbar by Daniel Bachmann, who was badly out of position after earlier denying Johann Berg Gudmundsson inside the area.

Bachmann did brilliantly to recover and just do enough to deny Barnes as Burnley made an early statement of intent.

Barnes also had another good chance after 18 minutes when he ghosted into the front post late at a corner but scooped his effort into the side-netting from close range.

Early on, Watford, unlike Preston on Saturday, displayed plenty of effort and enterprise as they narrowed down Burnley’s expansive passing game in a bid to frustrate the home side.

That eventually paid off after 32 minutes when the Hornets took the lead thanks to some poor decision making from Arijanet Muric.

After a long ball forward from Ryan Porteous, Muric lost position and misjudged the ball on the edge of the box.

Keinan Davis gleefully picked the ball up, gave it to Ken Sema out wide and his sharp pass allowed an unmarked Pedro to sweep home a simple tap-in.

The game remained too close to call as half-time came and went – with Kompany replacing Muric with Bailey Peacock-Farrell – and the Clarets certainly began the second half with renewed focus.

After an hour, Watford keeper Bachmann did well to instinctively block a close-range Nathan Tella effort from a corner as the Clarets threw bodies in everywhere to try and grab an equaliser.

The Hornets stood strong in an increasingly frantic last 20 minutes to repel Burnley’s frequent attacks and they appeared to have pulled it off.

However, with virtually the last kick of the game, Obafemi popped up in a goalmouth scramble from a corner to earn Burnley a precious point.