Ryan Andrews’ second-half equaliser secured Watford a 3-3 Championship draw from a topsy-turvy New Year’s Day thriller at Plymouth.
Visiting goalkeeper Ben Hamer made a brilliant stoppage-time save to deny Plymouth’s 13-goal top scorer Morgan Whittaker and central defender Lewis Gibson nearly sealed it with a thumping 18-yard shot, which flew just over in the final minute.
Despite torrential rain throughout, Argyle and Watford served up a thrilling, five-goal first half at Home Park with Plymouth taking a 3-2 lead into half-time.
Watford were rewarded for their bright start in the 11th minute when Matheus Martins cut the ball back from the byeline following a quick throw-in on the right.
Edo Kayembe profited with a clinical finish, clipping the ball past Conor Hazard at his near post.
Home keeper Hazard did well to race out and prevent Watford taking a 2-0 lead after 13 minutes as he beat striker Rajovic to a through ball.
Two minutes earlier he had tipped over Ismael Kone’s goal-bound shot which was heading for the top corner until Hazard’s timely intervention.
Their lead did not last long. Argyle levelled with a brilliant first-time side-foot volley from Finn Azaz – on loan from Aston Villa – from the edge of the box after 20 minutes.
Scorer turned creator seven minutes later as Azaz’s cross-field ball from left to right set fellow playmaker Whittaker away down the right.
Top scorer Whittaker’s first shot was blocked but as it rebounded to him, he roofed home a thundering strike to beat Hamer from an angle.
As well as hitting the upright, Ryan Hardie saw his 35th-minute shot superbly save by Hamer, while – two minutes earlier – Andrews fired the ball just past the far post.
Watford responded by levelling in the 38th minute with another superb goal as Kone played a one-two with Mileta Rajovic before sending a curling shot from the left out of the reach of out-stretched goalkeeper Hazard.
There was still time for the hosts to regain the lead and again they did in style with Whittaker releasing Scottish striker Hardie through the middle of the Watford defence.
Hardie, who had earlier seen his 18th-minute effort come back off the post, raced forward before sending a low shot past Hamer, which gave the Watford stopper little chance as it flew off the surface and in.
In an end-to-end first half, both sides had other golden opportunities to score.
Hazard could do little when Andrews raced through on an incisive Jake Livermore through ball in the 57th minute to cleverly make it 3-3.
Andrews clipped the ball past marker Bali Mumba and then flicked it over Hazard to level.
Hamer made a top-drawer acrobatic save to keep the score to 3-3 as he went full-stretch to keep out Azaz’s 78th-minute goal-bound free-kick from the edge of the box as the spoils were shared.
Orlando City v Columbus Crew: Pareja praises ever-growing Lions
Oscar Pareja admires the fight Orlando City are showing as they prepare to welcome Columbus Crew to Inter & Co Stadium on Saturday.
Orlando are unbeaten in their last three matches, including a late victory over San Jose Earthquakes last weekend.
They are now within one point of the playoffs in the Eastern Conference, sitting 10th on 16 points.
Pareja praised his team for being able to hold onto results in recent weeks, but he now wants to translate that into consistent success at home.
"I see a team that is growing," Pareja said. "Their confidence is growing.
"The way we're playing is much better in terms of efficiency on the other side of the box, and we're proud. The thing that we're most happy with is seeing them try to do the right thing.
"They've got through difficult moments together. The way they fight every single game is always the same. We're more knowledgeable now that we're getting results, but I haven't seen one game where they gave up.
"Now we need to go and do it at home in front of our fans. Nothing has changed, we just haven't been very good in some home games, but we will be."
Columbus sit five points above Saturday’s opponents, having won back-to-back games against CF Montreal and the Chicago Fire.
Going into the third of their successive away matches, head coach Wilfried Nancy hailed the Crew’s spirit.
"It's true that last year I didn't like the spirit that when we were playing away - it was not the same spirit," he said.
"Now, they try to play their game home or away. This is something that for me, this is growth. This is something that has been better."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Orlando City – Pedro Gallese
Gallese has kept clean sheets in two straight matches after Orlando managed just two in their first 11 regular season matches in 2024.
The Lions have never kept a clean sheet in three straight league matches within a single season before.
Columbus Crew – Diego Rossi
Rossi managed a goal and two assists in Columbus’ win over Chicago last Saturday. It was his sixth MLS match with at least three goal contributions (including playoffs) but his first with the Crew.
MATCH PREDICTION – DRAW
Orlando City have won just one of their first seven home matches this MLS season (three draws, three losses), with their six points won equalling the fewest they have ever recorded in their first seven home matches of a season (also in 2015).
Meanwhile, Columbus have lost only one of their last eight away matches in MLS (four wins, three draws incl. playoffs), including winning their last two in a row on the road. The Crew have not won three consecutive away matches in the league since a four-match run between August and September 2015.
Columbus knocked Orlando out of last season’s MLS Cup Playoffs with a 2-0 road win in the Conference Semifinals. That win was just the Crew’s second in their last 11 meetings with Orlando dating back to October 2018 (one draw, eight losses).
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Orlando City – 34.5%
Draw – 26.8%
Columbus Crew – 38.7%
Girona aim to end on a high as Dovbyk eyes Golden Boot
Girona are hoping to round off their most successful campaign in LaLiga with victory against Granada on Friday, while Artem Dovbyk is in the hunt to finish as the league's top scorer.
Michel's team, the surprise package of the season, already know they will finish third in the standings behind champions Real Madrid and runners-up Barcelona.
Girona, whose previous best finish was 10th in 2017-18 and 2022-23, have clinched their place in next season's Champions League and simply want to enjoy their outing on Friday.
"Tomorrow the stadium will be full and afterwards we want to celebrate with our fans," Michel said on Thursday.
"The best way to end the season is to win and make the fans proud, that's what we're playing for. We have to end the season in the best way possible, which is to win.
"If we do it with two goals from Dovbyk, that's even better. We have a chance for him to finish as top scorer and for us to surpass 80 points. We will try to win for him."
Dovbyk, who has netted 21 times this season, is two goals behind Villareal's Alexander Sorloth and two ahead of Madrid's Jude Bellingham.
After enjoying such highs this season, their 24 league wins including thumping home and away victories over Barcelona, Michel has already turned his attention to the future.
"It worries me because we need to build a competitive squad for the big year ahead. I would like to keep a lot of people, but I know there are players who are not ours and who have to go back to their teams," he said.
"However, I think we will do things right and I am convinced that we will have a top squad that will be able to compete in all three competitions."
D.C. United v Chicago Fire: Klopas adopting 'relegation battle' approach
Frank Klopas and the Chicago Fire may not have to worry about demotion from MLS, but he wants them to adopt a "relegation battle" mentality ahead of Saturday's visit to D.C. United.
The Fire sit 14th in the Eastern Conference standings after losing four straight games, with three of those defeats coming at home including last week's 3-1 reverse against the Columbus Crew.
Their current losing run is their fifth streak or four or more regular-season defeats since the start of 2021, though they have not lost five in a row in league play since 2018.
"The thing is trying to simplify things in practice, I think that's the most important thing with teams going through a difficult moment," Klopas said.
"The mental state of the team is obviously down. I think that's expected when you don't get results, when performances are not going your way.
"Even though there's no relegation battle in this league, we have to approach every game right now like it's a relegation fight until we can get out of this situation we're in."
D.C. are also looking to respond after back-to-back losses to the New York Red Bulls (1-4) and Inter Miami (0-1), with those results leaving them ninth in the East.
Troy Lesesne's team have won praise for their counter-pressing approach this year, but he says they still have plenty of room for improvement when playing on the break.
"No matter who the opponent is, we want to be difficult to play against and to break down, but we're also doing that so we can create," Lesesne said.
"We're top in the league for expected goals on the counterattack, but we have to finalise those situations.
"We're going to keep working on that, keep gaining those moments and keep improving."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
D.C. United – Christian Benteke
Benteke has scored 11 of D.C.'s 20 goals this season, with no other team-mate netting more than once in MLS play.
D.C. United are one of two MLS teams (also the Houston Dynamo) to only have one player with multiple goals this season.
Chicago Fire – Carlos Teran
Teran scored the Fire's only goal against the Crew last week and has now netted once for them in each of the last four seasons, making him the only player to score in each of the last four campaigns for Chicago.
The Colombian defender is hardly a goal machine, but Chicago will hope he can have an impact at both ends here.
MATCH PREDICTION – D.C. UNITED WIN
Chicago's tally of 10 points through 14 matches in 2024 is their worst total at this stage of a season in club history.
Things may not get any better for them on Saturday against a team known for employing an energetic approach.
D.C. United recorded a 4-0 home win over Chicago in the teams' last meeting last September, and they are looking to post back-to-back victories over the Fire for the first time since a four-game winning run against them between 2014 and 2016.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
D.C. United – 47.7%
Chicago Fire – 26.6%
Draw – 25.7%
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