At the final whistle, just about every single player on the pitch sunk to their knees. For Wolves it was in despair, having let slip a two-goal lead, and having been only 12 minutes from the FA Cup final. For Watford some joy, some relief: hammer at the wall for long enough and eventually it will break.
Watford had controlled large chunks of this semi-final with bouts of sustained pressure, yet after 78 minutes they found themselves 2-0 down to Wolves’ counter-attacking, and heading out. On the scoreboard Watford had yet to make an impression, but the physical onslaught of Troy Deeney and Andre Gray on the Wolves’ defence had taken an invisible toll which the more subtle talents of Gerard Deulofeu was about to ruthlessly expose.
It was Deulofeu’s deft finish on 79 minutes which gave them late hope, and his streaming run in extra time which closed out a famous Wembley comeback, either side of a 94th minute equaliser by Deeney. For so long Wolves seemed to be winning this battle of the Premier League’s ‘best of the rest’, but Watford’s relentless pressure told, just in time.
Shortly before half-time in extra time, Deulofeu and Gray combined in a counter to make it 3-2, reminiscent of Wolves an hour before, but by now Nuno’s side were sapped. Finally, and just in time, Watford had worn them down, and it will be Javi Gracia’s team who return here in May to face Manchester City, with a chance to make history.
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