Jota plays European hopes following Wolves’ vital victory at Watford
Diogo Jota played down Wolves’ European hopes after their vital win at Watford.
The forward netted a late winner at Vicarage Road on Saturday to seal a 2-1 win and put Wolves in control of the race for seventh.
The position would give them a Europa League qualifying spot if Watford lose to Manchester City in next month’s FA Cup final.
But Jota remained calm as Nuno Espirito Santo’s side looked for a first taste of Europe for 39 years.
He told the club’s website: “We know that Leicester has played a game less, so they could go eighth in the table, so we’re just going to wait and see what we can do in the end of the season.
“But it doesn’t matter, what matters is that we have been having a great season and nothing will change in these final two games.
“For a team that is in its first year in the Premier League, the results we’ve had have been excellent this season.”
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Jota’s 10th goal of the season came in the 77th minute after Ben Foster misjudged Ruben Neves’ deep cross.
He had earlier set up Raul Jimenez for his 17th goal of the campaign before Andre Gray levelled just after half-time.
Foster accepted some of the blame for Jota’s winner but insisted he should not have been left alone to score.
“It was a very windy day – I was umming and ahhing to get the ball,” he told Watford’s website. “But we can’t let players run in like that.”
Hornets boss Javi Gracia also added: “I am disappointed with the result.
“We wanted to get a better result. It wasn’t possible. They started better, they scored and after we started to feel better, we scored.
“When they scored a second it was a difficult moment for us. We tried until the end but it didn’t happen.”
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