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Zan Vipotnik's goal was his first of the season Zan Vipotnik's late header saw Swansea City fight back to draw with Watford after teenager Nestory Irankunda's sparkling free-kick had looked set to end the Hornets' long wait for an away win. Substitute Vipotnik glanced home with almost his first touch as Alan Sheehan's side salvaged a point. Irankunda's first-half goal was his first since he joined Watford from Bayern Munich in the summer – and it may be a while before he scores a better one. Having been fouled by Josh Key, the 19-year-old Australia international picked himself up and whipped the set-piece over the Swansea wall and high into the corner of the net. Watford had been knocking at the door, with Luca Kjerrumgaard denied when his far-post header was pushed on to the bar by Swansea goalkeeper Lawrence Vigouroux and then again when Ben Cabango acrobatically hooked off the line. Kjerrumgaard's drive forced another save from Vigouroux early in the second half before Swansea finally began to offer an attacking threat around the hour mark. After Liam Cullen turned Josh Tymon's low cross on to the near post, Watford were on course to hang on a first away win since February. But Slovenia forward Vipotnik, who has been linked with a move away from Swansea in this transfer window, met Ethan Galbraith's cross with a header which bounced into the net via the far post. From that point it was Swansea who looked the more likely winners, with Goncalo Franco denied by Egil Selvik in added time and Vipotnik coming agonisingly close to tapping in the rebound. Nestory Irankunda joined Watford from Bayern Munich for an undisclosed fee in July Swansea's home form under Sheehan has been very impressive, with six wins – all of which came with clean sheets - and only one defeat in eight league games before this since he took charge of a team who had been in alarming form in February. Watford, meanwhile, came to Wales on the back of six straight second-tier defeats on their travels, the club's worst run of away league losses outside the top flight since 1993. But this is the Championship, where the only thing predictable is that results are hard to predict. Watford's physical power combined with the attacking menace offered by Irankunda and fellow summer signing Kjerrumgard caused Swansea plenty of problems for the first hour of the contest. Boss Paulo Pezzolano will be frustrated Watford did not seal all three points during that period, while there will be concern for the Uruguayan about the injury which forced Irankunda off just before the momentum of the game changed. Opposite number Sheehan, meanwhile, can take heart from the resilience his side showed to find a way back into a match which seemed to be getting away from them. Another man who will have been pleased with Swansea's response is Cordell Broadus, the son of rapper Snoop Dogg, who was introduced to some players before the game and watched on from the directors' box after his father became a co-investor in the Welsh club last month. Cordell Broadus (left) alongside Brett Cravatt, one of Swansea's American owners Swansea head coach Alan Sheehan: "I think the first half a worldie free-kick and a headed chance kind of changes the perception. Apart from that there wasn't really a whole lot in the game. "Were we the best version of ourselves? No, but it's very bitty against a physical team that's going man to man. "I think after 55 minutes when we made the changes and made a few tactical tweaks, we were the better team. "We were gathering rhythm, [then a Watford] injury, gathering rhythm, another injury, gathering rhythm, another injury. That's what it was like for the last 35 minutes. "We just kept going until the end. We got a point and on another day we'd have got three. " Watford head coach Paulo Pezzolano: "First half was really good, tactically and individually the players played really well. "We were very good for 65, 70 minutes and they couldn't find a way to harm us. Maybe in the last minutes we might have run out of energy a little bit, but the opponents also played a good game. "The first half was very good, very solid. Maybe what leaves a bad taste in the mouth is that we cannot drop these types of points. "Based on what we did in the first half and part of the second half, we should win this game. " This video can not be played Sheehan: ‘It’s not about I, it’s about us’ This video can not be played Pezzolano: 'We cannot drop these types of points' After the opportunity to rate players has closed, the score displayed represents the average from all the submissions by BBC Sport users. Comments can not be loaded To load Comments you need to enable Java Script in your browser Last Updated 23rd August 2025 at 17: 00 Please Note: All times UK. Tables are subject to change. The BBC is not responsible for any changes that may be made. Manager: Alan Sheehan Formation: 4 - 2 - 3 - 1 Manager: Paulo Pezzolano Formation: 3 - 5 - 2 Manager: Alan Sheehan Formation: 4 - 2 - 3 - 1 Manager: Paulo Pezzolano Formation: 3 - 5 - 2 Championship All competitions All competitions All competitions Swansea City have lost just one of their nine home league games against Watford in the second tier (W6 D2), winning this exact fixture 1-0 last season. Watford have only lost one of their last four league games against Swansea City (W2 D1), and could win successive league games against them for the first time since September 2017. Swansea have won six of their last eight home league games (D1 L1), while since Alan Sheehan’s first league game in charge of the Swans (22nd February), no current Championship side has accrued more points than them (27). Watford have lost each of their previous six away league games, last losing more in succession outside the top-flight in December 1993 (7). Only Isaac Price (3) has scored more Championship goals so far this season than Watford’s Luca Kjerrumgaard (2) after his brace against QPR last time out. Indeed, only three players have competed in more aerial duels so far than his 21, winning 10 of them. Match ends, Swansea City 1, Watford 1. Second Half ends, Swansea City 1, Watford 1. Attempt missed. Zeidane Inoussa (Swansea City) right footed shot from outside the box misses to the left following a set piece situation. Kwadwo Baah (Watford) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul. Marko Stamenic (Swansea City) wins a free kick in the attacking half. Foul by Kwadwo Baah (Watford). Ryan Andrews (Watford) is shown the yellow card. Foul by Ben Cabango (Swansea City). Vivaldo Semedo (Watford) wins a free kick in the attacking half. Josh Tymon (Swansea City) is shown the yellow card. Foul by Zeidane Inoussa (Swansea City). Ryan Andrews (Watford) wins a free kick in the defensive half. Attempt saved. Gonçalo Franco (Swansea City) right footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the centre of the goal by Egil Selvik (Watford). Assisted by Ethan Galbraith. Cameron Burgess (Swansea City) wins a free kick in the defensive half. Foul by Hector Kyprianou (Watford). Ethan Galbraith (Swansea City) is shown the yellow card. Foul by Ethan Galbraith (Swansea City). Kwadwo Baah (Watford) wins a free kick on the left wing. James Morris (Watford) is shown the yellow card. Corner, Swansea City. Conceded by James Morris. Copyright © 2025 BBC. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking.