Watford 2-2 Sunderland: Aji Alese and Jewison Bennette earn Black Cats point
- Published
Aji Alese scored the first of two Sunderland equalisers
Jewison Bennette's late equaliser earned Sunderland a draw at Vicarage Road to deny Watford a fourth home win of the season.
Keinan Davis tapped in to put the Hornets ahead before Aji Alese equalised when his left-footed strike was judged to have crossed the line despite Hamza Choudhury's attempted clearance.
Ex-Hornet Luke O'Nien headed an attempted clearance into his own net to restore Watford's lead before Sunderland's Jack Clarke saw a fine finish ruled out for offside.
But Bennette rewarded the visitors' late onslaught when he controlled a ball on his chest and lashed in a low shot.
It looked like it could be Watford's day when Leon Dajaku dragged a golden chance wide for the visitors when one-on-one, but Bennette's strike, with two minutes left, held the hosts to a fifth draw of the season.
The point moved Sunderland up to fifth and within five points of second-placed Norwich while the Hornets, who have only one win in their past seven outings, climb to ninth.
The Hornets were kept largely quiet in the first half by a Black Cats defence which had conceded just twice in five matches, although Anthony Patterson made a fine reflex save from Joao Pedro's early volley.
Watford boss Rob Edwards made five changes, including a first start for Aston Villa loanee Davis who put the Hornets ahead when Patterson palmed Hassane Kamara's cross into his path.
Sunderland were missing two key strikers after Ellis Simms joined Ross Stewart on the sidelines in midweek, but responded well, Clarke having a penalty appeal waved away before his shot was parried to Alese, whose leveller was confirmed by goalline technology.
The visitors have picked up 10 points on the road this season, but again only came to life when falling behind, O'Nien's blunder following soon after Yaser Asprilla had forced a low save from Patterson.
Watford boss Rob Edwards told BBC Three Counties Radio:
"I'm left frustrated with the end result. We showed loads of positive signs today and for a 20-minute period after half-time I saw the team that I want us to be, but for the whole game.
"When we were 2-1 up we almost go into protect mode a little bit, and this is where we need to improve now.
"That's a time to keep doing what we're doing well. While we're having lots of success, keep doing it.
"We've shown over the course of the season, not flashes but good periods in games, but then have a dip and perhaps lose a bit of confidence for some reason, but we have to find a way to keep that consistency."
Sunderland boss Tony Mowbray told BBC Newcastle:
"Four points on the road against two teams, one (Watford) with huge expectations for the season and one (Reading) that has started the season really well helps the process of getting where we want to be.
"The lads are disappointed, to be honest, with some decisions, They think the Jack Clarke goal might have been onside and they think there was maybe a penalty in both halves, but that's OK.
"I thought the substitutes made an impact again. They did really well on Wednesday night and they came on again today really positive and played with freedom and created chances.
"Leon (Dajaku) maybe should have scored running through one-on-one at a slight angle and put it past the post, so it was a game we could have taken three points from, but you can see Watford's threat."