Watford sub Mileta Rajovic heads home dramatic equaliser against Millwall

Posted Sunday, October 29, 2023 by PA

A header from substitute Mileta Rajovic two minutes into injury time rescued a point for Watford in a feisty 2-2 draw with Millwall at Vicarage Road.

The burly Danish forward nodded in an Imran Louza cross to cancel out a late Wes Harding header and keep both sides entrenched in mid-table.

Watford keeper Daniel Bachmann had already kept out a Zian Flemming shot with a sprawling stop by the time an error from his Millwall counterpart Bartosz Bialkowski helped the home side into a seventh-minute lead when the Pole failed to hold an Edo Kayembe shot.

One calamity then followed another as Jake Cooper’s attempted clearance cannoned back into the net off Yaser Asprilla.

The goalmouth action was relentless with Millwall finding an equaliser following a corner. Casper De Norre sent a cross back into the area which Tom Bradshaw flicked on for Flemming to stoop and nod in at the far post.

The home side thought they had restored their lead just before the half-hour mark when the ball ricocheted to Asprilla five yards out, but his rasping left-foot shot was somehow palmed to safety by Bialkowski from point-blank range.

Brilliant defending from Danny McNamara then blocked a goalbound Ken Sema shot, before Cooper saw a shot from Jeremy Ngakia strike his legs and dribble inches wide of the post just after half-time.

At the other end, Brooke Norton-Cuffy embarked on a waltzing run which ended with a slipped pass to substitute Ryan Longman, who curled narrowly wide.

The flow of the game was not helped by over-fussy officiating by referee Keith Stroud, but Francisco Sierralta lifted an 81st-minute shot wastefully over the bar from close range for the hosts.

Millwall thought they had seized victory through Harding when the central defender’s second goal in as many games put the visitors ahead in front of their delirious supporters.

Harding rose to meet George Saville’s 85th-minute corner and it seemed his central defensive partner Cooper would make it 3-1 two minutes later when he headed goalwards. Somehow Watford substitute Rhys Healey headed that effort up and against his own crossbar, setting the scene for Rajovic’s injury-time heroics.

The draw extended Watford’s recent unbeaten run to four games, but could not dispel the impression that even at this early stage of the season, both sides look likely to finish in the middle of the pack.