Watford vs Crystal Palace result: Super sub Andre Gray fires Hornets into FA Cup semi-finals

Watford 2-1 Crystal Palace: Gray climbed off the bench to score the winner and put the hosts into the final four

Watford gained revenge over Crystal Palace for their defeat in the 2016 FA Cup semi final by defeating the south London side at Vicarage Road.

Goals by Etienne Capoue and Andre Gray cancelled out a goal by Michy Batshuayi in blustery conditions.

Palace suffered a massive blow even before the game kicked off, when Wilfried Zaha was ruled out with a muscle injury, with Max Meyer replacing him.

Patrick van Aanholt was also missing for the visitors, with Cheikhou Kouyate his stand-in.

Watford made eight changes from the side that lost at Manchester City last weekend, with Heurelho Gomes taking the Vicarage Road turf for perhaps the last time.

The game started at a frantic pace, with the home side having more of the early possession, but Palace had the first effort on target after five minutes.

A move involving the pace of Meyer and interplay with Andros Townsend and Luka Milivojevic saw the captain take a strike outside the area, for Gomes to collect at the second attempt.

Aaron Wan-Bissaka found space down the right hand side on fourteen minutes, but his cross for Batshuayi in the middle had too much strength on it.

At the other end, Gerard Deulofeu was able to take the ball in the area on seventeen minutes, and break through a resolute visiting defence to fire towards the near post of Vicente Guaita, but the goalkeeper was able to block his effort.

The effort seemed to change the momentum of the game, with Watford forcing themselves more on their opponents.

This paid off on 28 minutes when the hosts took the lead. Guaita failed to properly punch clear a corner from Jose Holebas, allowing the ball to fall to Will Hughes, who poked to Etienne Capoue to strike first time.

Watford almost doubled the lead a minute later when Deulofeu found space on the right hand side, but Guiaita was able to punch his fierce shot over the bar.

Capoue opened the scoring for the Hornets (REUTERS)

Meyer had a opportunity to level three minutes before the break, when he picked up on a through ball by Wan-Bissaka, but he was unable to fully connect with his first time volley, allowing Gomes to collect comfortably.

The hosts made a change just before the second half, with Holebas going off for Adam Masina.

Palace came close to equalising four minutes after the restart, when Meyer connected his head to a Townsend corner, directing his effort through a crowd of players, forcing Gomes to save to his right.

Indeed, the visitors looked far more attack minded than they showed in the first half, and Townsend made Gomes tip over the bar from a 59th minute free kick.

Their reward came on 62 minutes, albeit with some help from the opposition. Batshuayi robbed defender Adrian Mariappa to leave the Watford backline exposed. Despite Gomes attempting to block his shot, the Belgian slotted home to level the scores.

Gray scored the winner from the bench (Action Images via Reuters)

It was the fifth goal against Watford for the striker, in only four games, and an effort that appeared to galvanise the visitors, who looked more assured than in the first half.

However, despite their increased dominance, they were made to pay for their inability to take advantage.

Hughes made way for Andre Gray on 78 minutes, and the subsitute made the best possible impact two minutes later, when he got inbetween two Palace defenders to connect to a Roberto Pereyra cross.

The visitors sent on Christian Benteke for James McArthur, while Wan-Bissaka had to make a last ditch tackle to stop Deulofeu.

Craig Cathcart saw his effort cleared off the line, while both James Tomkins and Wan-Bissaka fired wide late on.