Nestory Irankunda curls a freekick towards the goal in a 2-2 draw with Southampton Image source, Rex Features
Image caption,

Both Nestory Irankunda and Ryan Manning scored free-kicks in an entertaining draw

Southampton and Watford both scored late free-kicks in an entertaining draw at Vicarage Road in the Championship.

Cameron Archer opened the scoring for the away side early on, firing in after Nathan Wood headed the ball into his path.

Watford levelled after the break as Kwadwo Baah came off the bench and beat Gavin Bazunu.

Ryan Manning then stepped up to produce another superb free-kick which he curled into the bottom left-hand corner.

But just three minutes later Nestory Irankunda sent one into the top right-hand corner from even further out to level things and earn his side a point.

While Watford named an unchanged side from their 1-1 draw with Swansea City last time out, Saints were forced into a late change to their line-up as midfielder Flynn Downes had to withdraw due to illness.

Southampton took the lead after 10 minutes as Manning whipped in a corner that found the head of Wood.

Despite the defender mis-heading the ball, it fell into the path of Archer who was able to take advantage and knock it in from close range.

Watford thought they had scored just before the half-hour mark when Hector Kyprianou headed in but the referee had already blown for a foul on Saints keeper Bazunu.

The home side were able to get themselves back into the game in the 65th minute thanks to substitute Baah.

Rocco Vata found him with a pinpoint crossfield pass and the forward then produced a powerful effort from a narrow angle across Bazunu that flew in.

The hosts were good value for the equaliser, getting much more into the game and threatening Southampton as the second half went on.

But Saints retook the lead with just over 10 minutes remaining when Manning wonderfully scored his second free-kick of the season.

Watford stunned Saints just three minutes later as Irankunda hammered a free-kick into the top corner.

The 19-year-old also scored a superb set-piece in Watford's draw at Swansea last weekend.

Ryan Manning celebrates scoring another free-kick for Southampton Image source, Rex Features
Image caption,

Ryan Manning already scored a free-kick this season against Wrexham

'Little mistakes are costing us' - post-match reaction

Watford head coach Paulo Pezzolano told BBC Three Counties Radio:

"It was a beautiful game to watch but for a head coach, not so good for his heart.

"We are pleased with the players. They're learning and incorporating into the way of playing, so many details and nuances in the game so overall, very pleased.

"I'm not really surprised [by Irankunda]. We knew about Nestory's quality. He had shown that in the other teams he had worked.

"We didn't expect those free-kicks in such a short time but we knew he was a very good free-kick taker.

"The most important thing for him to understand is he needs to keep on working. He has not accomplished anything yet and we know that he has so much more to give."

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Pezzolano: 'We hope we can create a solid team'

Southampton boss Will Still told BBC Radio Solent: "We've done enough to win the game, we got ourselves into a perfect situation 10 minutes from the end.

"We've disorganised ourselves, lost possession in a central area and not quite reacted as well as we should.

"These little mistakes we're making are costing us quite a lot at the moment, that's frustrating. We've got a lot of new players through the door and I think the team will look a lot different in the coming months.

"We've got two weeks now to set up, prepare and take these little lapses out of what we're doing. There's only one thing we can do, keep knocking the nail on the head and stay positive."

Media caption,

Will Still: 'These little mistakes at the moment are costing us'

Player of the match

Number: 66 N. Irankunda
Average rating 8.15
Number: 66 N. Irankunda
Average Rating: 8.15
Number: 34 K. Baah
Average Rating: 7.86
Number: 11 R. Vata
Average Rating: 7.36
Number: 4 K. Keben
Average Rating: 6.94
Number: 5 H. Kyprianou
Average Rating: 6.83
Number: 25 J. Abankwah
Average Rating: 6.54
Number: 16 M. Bola
Average Rating: 6.51
Number: 1 E. Selvik
Average Rating: 6.45
Number: 3 M. Alleyne
Average Rating: 6.33
Number: 2 J. Ngakia
Average Rating: 6.29
Number: 45 R. Andrews
Average Rating: 6.28
Number: 18 Vivaldo Semedo
Average Rating: 6.25
Number: 20 M. Doumbia
Average Rating: 6.20
Number: 9 L. Kjerrumgaard
Average Rating: 6.11
Number: 17 M. Sissoko
Average Rating: 6.09
Number: 39 E. Kayembe
Average Rating: 6.04

After the opportunity to rate players has closed, the score displayed represents the average from all the submissions by BBC Sport users.

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