Watford 1-0 Sunderland: Ryan Andrews' goal gives Hornets victory

Ryan Andrews' goal gave Watford victory over Sunderland in the Hornets' first match since Tom Cleverley was installed as manager on a permanent basis.

A dull end-of-season affair between two mid-table sides was settled by a moment of quality midway through the second half.

Ismaël Koné played a perfect pass in behind the Sunderland defence and youngster Andrews coolly slotted past keeper Anthony Patterson.

The breakthrough came after Jack Clarke missed a great chance for Sunderland when he fired wide.

Watford's win was their second in their eight matches under Cleverley, who was placed in interim charge after Valerien Ismael was sacked in March. Five of those games were drawn.

Three of the Hornets' previous four matches ended in goalless draws and another clean sheet demonstrated that they are tough to beat under Cleverley.

Sunderland had plenty of possession after Andrews' goal but were unable to find an equaliser.

Abdoullah Ba had an effort saved by keeper Daniel Bachmann after being set up by Patrick Roberts.

And in the final stages, Bachmann denied Callum Styles following good work on the right by Luís Semedo.

The result saw Watford move up a place in the Championship table, to 14th, leapfrogging Sunderland.

Watford manager Tom Cleverley told BBC Three Counties Radio:

"I would have taken that before the game - a bang average performance but a 1-0 win. It's possibly our poorest performance since I've been in charge, and football has a funny way of working out.

"Our defence was very good but we were sloppy in possession. Sunderland created a lot of problems in the second half and we showed a bit of grit to see it out.

"Unfortunately it wasn't a stellar performance, but the result was huge for us. I wasn't pleased with the performance. There's a lot of scope for improvement."

Sunderland interim head coach Mike Dodds told BBC Radio Newcastle:

"I'm really upset. I'm not upset in terms of the performance - I felt we looked a lot more threatening in the top area of the pitch - but we've got to take our chances.

"I thought we were the better team. I'm upset for the fans. That's a game we should not be losing.

"I'm disappointed with the goal. They breached our back line far too easily and this group must realise that one lapse in concentration can get punished.

"It feels like I'm running an uphill battle at the moment in terms of the inconsistency. Some weeks I look at the group and really like what I see and some weeks I don't.

"Today I can't criticise them for that. To come away losing 1-0 is upsetting for everyone at the club."