Swansea City 1-1 Watford: Vipotnik heads home late leveller to salvage point

Zan Vipotnik came off the bench to head home a late equaliser to salvage a point for Swansea City against Watford at the Swansea.com Stadium.

The Slovenian popped up eight minutes from time to head home Ethan Galbraith’s cross, after Nestory Irankunda’s brilliant first-half freekick had previously given the visitors the lead.

For long periods of this contest, it seemed Swansea would be heading for defeat here, particularly when Liam Cullen hit the post on the hour.

But Vipotnik’s first goal of the season was ultimately enough to earn a point, and preserve Alan Sheehan’s impressive home record.

The Swans have lost just one of their last nine home league games under the Irishman, a run that could well be decisive in the course of a season that’s so far showing a fair amount of promise.

Of course, much of the narrative around Swansea remains centered on their ongoing search for a striker, one that has also sparked question around the future of their current number nine.

Vipotnik’s incisiveness has frequently been questioned during his time in SA1, but this cameo off the bench might go some way to answering a few of his critics, although he could well have netted a winner late on had he managed to reach the rebound from Goncalo Franco’s deflected effort.

A upturn in form for Vipotnik would certainly give Sheehan something to think about heading into the final throes of the transfer window.

There was plenty for those in the stands to digest too, including Snoop Dogg’s son Cordell Broadus, who was in attendance for this encounter alongside entrepreneur Scott Hochstadt.

They were treated to a somewhat attritional start to this contest, with Sheehan unsurprisingly deciding to stick with the same side that saw off Sheffield United.