It looked for so long that Villa were, finally, going to break the shackles - but Deeney's 93rd-minute goal meant it was business as usual
N the Graham Taylor derby, Troy Deeney broke Villa's hearts when they were within touching distance of only their second away win of the season.
Undeserved as it was, Villa have now lost a club record 11 consecutive games. But the last one in that horrid sequence was desperately cruel – and it was the first time Watford have won a game this season after falling behind.
Taylor is revered by both sets of fans for bringing two glorious eras to Vicarage Road, 20 year apart, and leading Villa back to the big time at the first attempt the last time they were relegated. He would not have enjoyed one side's plight and the other making such heavy weather of it.
A game of negligible urgency flickered to life when Ben Watson rattled the bar with a dipping 30-yard volley after 24 minutes.
And then it happened – Villa went in front, Ciaran Clark heading Ashley Westwood's corner firmly beyond Heurelho Gomes
.
Villa's effrontery to go in front after 27 minutes tested Watford's appetite for winning after falling behind – a phenomenon they had not managed in 40 previous games under Flores.
They were lucky not to fall further behind two minutes before the break, Jordan Ayew's diving header rebounding to safety off a post.
But right on half-time, Almen Abdi's free-kick punished Mark Bunn's questionable positioning to hand Watford an equaliser they had barely threatened, but parity only lasted two minutes into the second period.
Ayew played a neat one-two with Rudy Gestede before firing home from 20 yards – which doubled Villa's total of away goals in the Premier League in 2016.
Even Aly Cissokho's harsh red card, when the escaping Ikechi Anya was felled 16 minutes from time, did not seem to diminish Villa's resistance until their late, late collapse.
It was desperately harsh on the 10 men when Deeney glanced home sub Steven Berghuis's cross on 90 minutes and then rifled a stoppage-time winner.
Here are the five things we learned:
1) Relegation: Don't forget to enjoy it
Villa's acting manager Eric Black, talking on TV before the game, admitted: “I've got to be honest, I don't think there's been a lot of enjoyment in the job.”
Really? What's not to like about a feckless absentee owner, 11 defeats on the bounce and your own players being heckled?
At least their performance for 89 minutes at Vicarage Road will be a crumb of comfort – and a blueprint to follow next season in the Championship.
2) Gift of the Gab has turned to debit
There was a time when Gabby Agbonlahor would pop up with the winner in the Brum derby against Birmingham City every season and he was the toast of B6.
Now his reputation in claret-and-blue heartlands is just toast. Agbonlahor resigned as club captain this week for assorted crimes including being overweight, partying on the night Villa were relegated and basically swinging the lead on £60,000 a week. Nice work if you can get it.
A section of away fans, most of them of portly build or multiple chins by way of tribute to their fallen idol, travelled to Vicarage Road in Agbonlahor masks.
3) Watford fans love Quique, OK?
He may be on the way out because of Watford's poor Premier League form in 2016, but the supporters left Quique Sanchez Flores in little doubt that he has made a lasting impression.
Before kick-off, the Rookery were singing their leader's praises, unfurling a giant banner bearing an image of the urbane Spaniard, and there was little let-up in the chant.
4) Too many holding the fort
Quique Sanchez Flores knows a decent holding midfielder when he sees one – but his fatal attraction to them did Watford no favours here.
Mario Suarez, capped by Spain, had yet to be on the winning side when he starts a Premier League game. Too often he was doing the same job as Ben Watson, usually going sideways or backwards.
5) Ayew wins them overweight
Jordan Ayew was a waste of space when he was sent off at West Ham, but he was almost a hero this time. He did not deserve to finish on the losing side.
Player ratings - by Mike Walters
WATFORD
- Gomes 6 - Hornets player of the season by a country mile
- Paredes 4 - Indecisive, infuriating. Didn't know whether to stick or twist
- Cathcart 5 - Unusually hesitant after such a consistent campaign
- Britos 5 - Another regular who has gone off the boil
- Anya 6 - Brought down by Cissokho in controversial red card incident
- Suarez 5 - Too pedestrian, too one-paced, not enough urgency
- Watson 5 - Good season, but virtually running on empty now
- Abdi 7 - Booked. Sublime set-piece equaliser after being hacked down by Gueye
- Deeney 8 – MOM Lifelong Blues fan loved his two late goals against old enemy
- Jurado 5 - No goals and one assist all season is shocking for a playmaker
- Ighalo 6 - Brave effort for a player mourning death of his father
- SUBS: Berghuis [booked] (Paredes, 57) 7, Amrabat (Jurado, 70) 6
ASTON VILLA
- Bunn 5 - Booked. Questionable position for Abdi's first-half equaliser
- Hutton 6 - Three centre backs gave him licence to gallop forward
- Toner 6 - Youngster's application put strolling older heads to shame
- Lescott 6 - Not flavour of the month, but policed Ighalo diligently
- Clark 7 - Decent header to open scoring, he must stay in the summer purge
- Bacuna 5 - Booked. Champions League? You're having a laugh
- Gueye 6 - Booked. Grafted hard, proving energy can make a difference
- Westwood 7 - Two goals last week, assist and clearance off the line here
- Cissokho 6 - Sent off. Red card looked harsh, but it was turning point
- Gestede 5 - No shortage of aerial threat and linked up well with Ayew
- Ayew 7 - Diving header rattled post, then a handsome finish
- SUBS: Sanchez (Ayew, 79) 5, Sinclair (Gueye, 88)
- REFEREE: Anthony Taylor
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