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It was a tale of two penalties down at Vicarage Road on Boxing Day as The Hornets drew one all with struggling Crystal Palace.

Prior to kick off, fans entered the stadium expecting a hard blooded contest and that's what they got. From the moment Mark Clattenburg blew the commencing whistle, the challenges went flying in from either side. 

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Palace dominated the first half, and this was helped further due to injury to both Watford's Valon Behrami and Daryl Janmaat who were subbed off within 15 minutes of the game being played.

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It was then in the 26th minute of the contest that The Eagles were able to take a deserved lead through Yohan Cabaye. The Frenchman had the ball fed into his feet by England international Andros Townsend, before powering a low, driven strike past Watford's Heurelho Gomes. 

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A few minutes later, the away side were gifted the chance of doubling their lead when Christian Benteke was fouled by Heurelho Gomes, giving Mark Clattenburg no choice but to point to the penalty spot. The Belgian stepped up, and despite his stuttered run-up to the ball, he was unable to convert giving the Brazilian goalkeeper an easy chance of redeeming his previous act of madness.

The half time whistle came as a relief to Watford who were admittedly the poorer of the two sides going into the break.

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The Hornets came out after the interval an inspired and more aggressive looking side and their efforts were paid off in the 70th minute when Austrian defender Sebastian Prodl was fouled inside the penalty area, awarding Watford a spot kick. Troy Deeney who hadn't scored a goal for the club since the beginning of October stepped up and was able to convert his kick unlike Benteke in the first half. The Englishman slotted the ball down the centre of the goal to score his 100th goal for the club. 

With 20 minutes to go, the game was in the taking for either side, however by the full time whistle neither could take full advantage.

For Crystal Palace and their recently appointed manager Sam Allardyce, the point comes after two defeats on the bounce and moves them two points away from the relegation zone. The former England boss said in his post match interview "I just have to build the resilience a bit more and we will be OK", and this will have to be the case if Palace have any hope of picking up any points when they travel to Arsenal at the Emirates stadium on New Years Day. 

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As for the Hornets, they were able to climb to 10th in the league for seven more Premier League fixtures on Boxing Day. Manager Walter Mazzarri was "not happy" with the result and the performance of some of the players and will be hoping for an improved performance from his side when they host Tottenham Hotspur at home on New Year's Day.

Bailey Plaskow, Watford Weekly