Tom Cleverley targets ‘fitter’ Kwadwo Baah after Watford see off Sunderland

Posted Sunday, September 29, 2024 by PA

Tom Cleverley wants Kwadwo Baah to improve his fitness as Watford defeated high-flying Sunderland 2-1 in the Sky Bet Championship.

The German forward came off the bench to earn the home side all three points at Vicarage Road, after being fouled for the decisive penalty.

Goals by Festy Ebosele and a Tom Dele-Bashiru penalty won the game for the hosts, despite Sunderland’s equaliser from Wilson Isidor.

Baah has been a substitute in every league game this season and Cleverley believes his player needs to be able to play for longer.

He said “He’s been excellent for us this season, and that poses the question why he’s not in the team every week.

“He just needs to be fitter, to repeat these sprints, but he’s winning games for us right now.

“It was a little bit of tale of two halves, I thought we were excellent in the first half. Then we had to absorb a bit of pressure in the second half, without conceding too many big chances.

“Football is hard to swing momentum, when you go 1-0 and then concede, and then they get the momentum, then it’s difficult to swing it back in our favour.”

Watford had the early play, and Edo Kayembe forced Anthony Patterson to turn away his curler at full stretch after 10 minutes, then two minutes later the goalkeeper kept a close-range effort by Ebosele out.

The hosts deservedly took the lead in the 28th minute, when Ebosele connected first time to a delivery from Yasser Larouci, directing his shot past the stranded Patterson.

Sunderland almost hit back straight away, with Jonathan Bond tipping over a Luke O’Nien effort from a free-kick.

Indeed, the goal conceded seemed to galvanise the away side, who came close when Isidor shot just wide.

The French forward marked his first Sunderland game with his first goal for the club, three minutes after the restart, when he turned in a Patrick Roberts cross at the near post past Bond.

The afternoon ultimately belonged to Watford, who got the game’s decisive third goal with just six minutes of the game remaining. Baah was upended in the area by O’Nien, enabling Dele-Bashiru to step up and convert from the spot.

Sunderland head coach Regis Le Bris saw his side miss the chance to take over at the top of the table, although he was pleased with the first start of Isidor.

He said: “Wilson did very well for the first game, he ran a lot and helped the team. It was difficult with one player against their back three. He tried, and it was a reward to score that goal.

“Our back four was not able to deal with their front line, so after 50 minutes we decided to change our shape, to create a back five.

“At that moment, the game changed. But Watford are a strong side, in counter attack. We knew if we lost the ball high up the pitch they could exploit us.

“At the end of the game, you are tired, and you need to be very accurate in your decisions. Watford kept their strength with their counter attack after their own substitutes.

“During half-time we talked about defending late on. They had a long ball from a goal kick and we lost the first duel.”