The highs and lows of the game, encapsulated into one glorious 30 second period of absolute footballing mayhem.
If anyone ever asked me why I love football, I would show them a 1 minute clip from the Championship Playoff Semi-Final Second Leg in 2013 between Watford and Leicester.
The match was poised at 2-2 on aggregate and was heading for extra time when Leicester were awarded a ridiculous penalty for a foul on Anthony Knockaert in the 6th minute of stoppage time. It looked soft in real time, and replays confirmed he had blatantly dived, with his reward being the chance to send his team to Wembley.
The whole season boiled down to one 30 second passage of football. 46 matches, across a gruelling Championship campaign had earned these two teams the right to contest the playoffs. The winner of this match would go through to the most financially lucrative match in all of football, with a chance to make it to the promised land of the Premier League and all the riches and romance that comes with it.
The Watford players and fans are rightly incensed with the award of the penalty. Imagine having an entire year’s worth of hard work, graft and dreams snatched away by something so pathetic as that dive. It’s not even close to being a penalty. You can see it on Knockaert’s face when he gets up off the deck.
Leicester are now one kick away from the final, and of course Knockaert himself steps up to take the penalty. He shoots to the keeper’s left but Manuel Almunia makes a great save, the Watford fans breath a very brief sigh of relief, because the rebound falls straight to Knockaert who just needs to tap home from 6 yards to win the match. But Almunia has other ideas and incredibly gets himself back up to make the save and Watford clear their lines.
They put together a perfect counter attack down the right wing and Fernando Forestieri stands up a cross to the back post. Brad Hogg has the incredible presence of mind, given the situation, to nod the ball back into a good area around the penalty spot, where Troy Deeney is arriving at the perfect time to thunder a half volley into the Leicester net.
Cue pandemonium.
Vicarage Road erupts. The place goes mad. Deeney rips off his shirt and runs to the crowd where he and the Watford players jump into the stands to celebrate. The fans are losing their minds. There’s a pitch invasion. Watford fans are everywhere.
“Do not scratch your eyes! You are really seeing the most extraordinary finish here!”
The cameras briefly cut to Knockaert, hands on his knees in disbelief at what’s just happened. But you know the real reason they’re showing him is to emphasise the pure beauty of the justice that he’s just been served.
Leicester were about to make it to the promised land of Wembley, only to have that reality snatched away in the blink of an eye, and it’s Watford who now have a shot at making it to the Premier League.
There are so many reasons why I love this moment.
First and foremost it’s the jeopardy of the whole thing. It’s past the end of stoppage time. The entire season is in the balance. The fact that within 30 seconds we go from one team being a single kick from the final, to that team’s season crashing to an end and the opposition going from despair to absolute unbridled joy, is something I think you only get in football.
Sometimes winning a semi-final can feel just as good as winning a final. You still have that next game to play, you still have that hope and excitement and anticipation inside you about what that day is going to bring. It’s everything that’s good about being a football fan.
There’s the double save from the penalty. There’s the actual goal itself. It’s not a lucky deflection, or an own goal, or a contentious offside call. It’s an emphatic, barn storming half-volley struck so pure, and it smashes into the net the way volleys do in the goals you dream about when you were a boy.
The celebrations are mental. The commentary is perfect. This is everything that football can do to a person, contained in the most beautifully crazy 30 seconds.
I’m not a Watford fan but I still get goosebumps every time I watch this goal. It's such a good example of everything that is good about the game, and that's why it’s one of the biggest reasons why I love football.