Watford boss delivered this verdict on Sunderland win and the two players he thought were key
Sunderland fell to their second defeat of the Championship campaign at Watford on Saturday afternoon
Watford boss Tom Cleverley said he felt his side deserved their win for the quality of their first-half performance against Sunderland.
The hosts took a deserved lead through Festy Ebosele's volley and though Wilson Isidor levelled the scores shortly after the break, Tom Dele-Bashiru's late penalty secured the three points.
Cleverley praised his side for how they absorbed Sunderland's pressure in the second half and for not conceding too many significant chances in that period. It was the first time in six matches that Watford have not conceded early in the game, another positive for the Hornets boss.
"It was a tale of two halves," Cleverley said.
"I thought we were excellent first half, and then we had to absorb a little bit of pressure in the second half without conceding too many big chances. We showed real character at the end there. In football, it is hard to swing momentum.
“When you go 1-0 up, and you are dominant, and then concede and then they gain momentum, it is really difficult for it to then swing back into our favour. I think [Kwadwo] Baah deserves a lot of credit for doing that, and the supporters deserve a lot of credit for getting us over the line.
“It was a real performance full of character. We are 10 unbeaten here now, and it is one of those places that when we don’t play well we are getting the job done here now, so I am really pleased. I think our first-half performance deserved the win today. You try not to be negative and think 'let’s just protect for the first 10 minutes', but I thought defensively in the main we were excellent today.
“Our structure was good, and we limited a top team to very little. We valued our defensive actions, and we put real pride in not getting beat in one-v-ones, winning duels, being in the right position, and staying focused defensively.
“Naturally you will build into the game if you are all of those things professionally, and I don’t think we have done that in recent weeks.”
Cleverley also highlighted the performances of experienced duo Angelo Ogbonna and Moussa Sissoko as being key to the win, with the former making his league debut in the game.
"Angelo has been fantastic - exactly what we need," Cleverley said.
"When I said we were missing Italian-style defending, and being focused, and valuing the defensive actions, he is exactly what we needed. He has come in at a great time, but we need to guide him through this week, because he has not had a pre-season.
“To ask him to play four games in 10 days, we are going to have to really look after him, but I am thrilled with his performance and what he brings to the squad.
“I thought those two were fantastic today. Two real leader performances. I can still hear Moussa’s voice getting everyone in and around him. I thought Moussa’s performance was really excellent today.”