It was an exhilarating match between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Watford in the second semi-final of the FA Cup that ran right down to the wire. Wolves were the dominant team for most of the match and were looking favourites to go into the final with a 2-0 lead over their opponents. However, the Hornets struck back through Gerard Deulofeu in the 79th minute of the match. His finish reminded us of his former colleague and five times Balon d’Or winner Lionel Messi, and even the Argentine ace would be proud of that finish.
More late drama followed as Leander Dendoncker brought down Troy Deeney inside the box right before the final whistle and the Englishman converted from the spot to get the match into extra time. It was another Messi-like finish from Deulofeu that got Javi Gracia’s men into the lead in the first half of the extra time. The scoreline remained the same until the final whistle and Watford went into the final of the FA Cup to set up a date with the mighty Manchester City.
Here is how the Wolves players were rated from their disappointing defeat against Watford.
John Ruddy: 6
Was not to blame for any of the goals. Did an excellent job in the first half and he even guessed it right to almost stop Deeney spot kick from going in but there was too much power on it.
Romain Saiss: 6
Looked solid in the backline in the first half of the match. For the rest of the game, his performance was lacklustre, and he could not do anything to stop Deulofeu from scoring two goals.
Conor Coady: 5
A disappointing afternoon for the Englishman as he could not prevent Deulofeu from getting the ball into the back of the net. Looked fatigued towards the end.
Willy Boly: 5
The Portuguese defender did not have any clue against the guile of the Spanish forward. Should have done much better to prevent Deulofeu from taking the shot in case of the last Watford goal.
Jonny Castro: 6
Defended with a lot of heart in the first half. Could not cope with Deulofeu’s bag of tricks in the second half though. Was substituted in the extra time.
Ruben Neves: 5.5
Looked disappointing with his efforts on the night. Not what was expected out of him.
Leander Dendoncker: 4
A night to forget for the Belgian. Looked without a clue while making up his mind about intercepting the Watford attackers which resulted in both the goals. In the first case, he hesitated to make a tackle and Deulofeu took the advantage to get the shot off while in the second case, his ill-timed tackle saw Deeney win the penalty for his side.
Joao Moutinho: 6
Stabilised the midfield in the first half to a great extent and made some perfect passes as well. Looked a little complacent as well as tired in the second half and gave a lot of space to the likes of Doucoure and Capoue to capitalise on the night.
Matt Doherty: 8
A superb effort from the right-back as he got into the box from time to time with the ball to torment the Watford defence. Scored the first goal with a clever run into the box and headed the ball in the net from close range. Should have hit the target in the second half but looked short on confidence as he passed away the chance to Jota, who could not take advantage.
Diogo Jota: 6
Looked like a threat to the opposition defence for most of the match. However, he could have done better to take his chances in the second half to put the game beyond the reach of the Hornets.
Raul Jimenez: 6
Scored the second goal for his side as it looked beyond the reach of the Hornets. Looked fatigued and somewhat dejected towards the match.
Substitutes
Ruben Vinagre: 6
Tried his level best to get his side back in the match with his pinpoint passes and crosses.
Daryl Janmaat: NA
Played too little to warrant a rating.
Ken Sema: NA
Played too little to warrant a rating.
