BURNLEY HAD A last-gasp goal from Michael Obafemi to thank as their amazing recent form stuttered in a 1-1 draw against Watford.
A first-half finish from Joao Pedro gave the Hornets the lead but Vincent Kompany’s men escaped with a point after Obafemi popped up deep into stoppage time.
Watford arrived in Lancashire as one of only two sides to have defeated the Clarets this season, winning 1-0 back in August at Vicarage Road. That was also the last time Burnley had not scored in a match, a statistic alone that helps highlight just how dominant Kompany’s side have been this term.
Indeed, Burnley were chasing history at home as they went in search of an 11th straight league victory.
But Watford were in no mood to help the Clarets achieve that goal as they dug deep and nearly won until Obafemi’s 95th-minute equaliser.
Burnley nearly took the lead after just 38 seconds when Ashley Barnes’ shot from outside the box was superbly tipped onto the crossbar by Daniel Bachmann, who was badly out of position after earlier denying Johann Berg Gudmundsson inside the area.
Barnes also had another good chance after 18 minutes when he ghosted into the front post late at a corner but scooped his effort into the side-netting from close range.
Early on, Watford displayed plenty of effort and enterprise as they narrowed down Burnley’s expansive passing game in a bid to frustrate the home side. That eventually paid off after 32 minutes when the Hornets took the lead thanks to some poor decision making from Arijanet Muric.
After a long ball forward from Ryan Porteous, Muric lost position and misjudged the ball on the edge of the box. Keinan Davis gleefully picked the ball up, gave it to Ken Sema out wide and his sharp pass allowed an unmarked Pedro to sweep home a simple tap-in.
The game remained too close to call as half-time came and went – with Kompany replacing Muric with Bailey Peacock-Farrell – and the Clarets began the second half with renewed focus.
After an hour, Watford keeper Bachmann did well to instinctively block a close-range Nathan Tella effort from a corner as the Clarets threw bodies in everywhere to try and grab an equaliser.
The Hornets stood strong in an increasingly frantic last 20 minutes to repel Burnley’s frequent attacks and they appeared to have pulled it off.
However, with virtually the last kick of the game, Obafemi popped up in a goalmouth scramble from a corner to earn Burnley a precious point.
Elsewhere, Superb late strikes from Perry Ng and Callum Robinson earned Cardiff a 2-0 win at Birmingham – a first under new boss Sabri Lamouchi.
Ng stole the show with a superb free-kick in the 84th minute and Ireland international Robinson then sealed a first win in 13 games for the Bluebirds as he drove into the box before firing a shot into the top-right corner.
Having recorded back-to-back wins for the first time since October, it was expected Birmingham would start strongly, and they did as Scott Hogan looked very lively in the opening 10 minutes.
The first chance of the evening fell to Auston Trusty in the 15th minute when Juninho Bacuna curled a teasing cross into the box, but Trusty’s header went well wide of the target.
Goalkeeper John Ruddy was almost called into action three minutes later when Andy Rinomhota’s deflected cross found Sory Kaba on the edge of the area, but his audacious attempt at an overhead kick sailed wide.
Cardiff had the last chance of the half in the 40th minute when Ryan Wintle collected a loose ball on the edge of the area but his shot was well blocked by Hannibal Mejbri.
It took until the 62nd minute for either side to record a noteworthy effort in the second half.
Kaba again proved to be the brightest spark for the Welsh side as he cleverly took down a powerful cross from Romaine Sawyers, before sending a bicycle kick over the bar.
The deadlock was broken six minutes from time when Ng curled a sensational free-kick into the top-left corner.
Then, 11 minutes later, Robinson gave the 845 travelling Cardiff fans something else to cheer about as he cut in from the left wing before smashing a shot past Ruddy.
Meanwhile, Norwich finally gave the Carrow Road faithful something to cheer as they turned in a dominant display to beat Hull 3-1 in a one-sided Championship clash.
The Canaries had gone eight matches without a home win before tonight, with their previous success coming way back on 29 October when they saw off Stoke 3-1.
It looked as though it was going to be another uncomfortable evening when Jacob Greaves fired the visitors into an early lead but that proved to be their only effort on target and once Kieran Dowell had equalised four minutes later there was only one team in it.
Gabriel Sara capped an impressive display by firing the hosts in front just before the hour mark and a late goal from Josh Sargent gave the final scoreline a more realistic look.
Jack Clarke scored a late brace as Sunderland claimed a 3-0 win at QPR which took them up to sixth in the table as the west London side’s dismal run continued.
Luke O’Nien pounced on a mistake by goalkeeper Seny Dieng to score the opener and Anthony Patterson saved Ilias Chair’s penalty midway through the second half, before former QPR loanee Clarke’s late double sealed another defeat for the hosts at Loftus Road.
Viktor Gyokeres ended his goal drought as Coventry beat high-flying Millwall 1-0 at the CBS Arena.
It was only Millwall’s fourth league defeat since the start of October as Gary Rowett’s men missed the chance to consolidate their play-off position.
Reading halted a six-match Championship run without a win as they edged past relegation-threatened Rotherham 2-1 at the SCL Stadium.
Rotherham went in front in the 37th minute through a rare goal from veteran defender Lee Peltier. Andy Carroll levelled with a powerful header early in the second half and substitute Tyrese Fornah nodded in a dramatic 90th-minute winner.
In League One, Conor Hourihane was on target as Derby drew 1-1 with 10-man Lincoln City, while Luca Connell opened the scoring for Barnsley in their 3-1 win at Port Vale.
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