Watford put up a good display to hold Sunderland to a 2-2 draw at the Stadium of Light.

Watford manager Tom Cleverley hailed his team’ effort against Sunderland, but confessed he was dismayed by their’schoolboy’ errors in the last 10 minutes.

Watford came from behind to grab a well-deserved lead at the Stadium of Light courtesy to goals from Edo Kayembe and Imran Louza. The visitors appeared to have all three points until Dennis Cirkin scored a late equalizer from a corner, and Wilson Isidor and Milan Aleksic both missed one-on-one chances.

Cleverley confessed that his team missed the leadership of Moussa Sissoko, who was pulled off with a cramp as the game came to an end. Despite his dissatisfaction, he expressed satisfaction with the level of performance his men demonstrated throughout the game.

The Hornets manager complimented 18-year-old attacker Mamadou Doumbia for an outstanding full debut and goalscorer Kayembe for his ‘warrior’ effort in midfield.

“I thought for 60, 65 minutes we were excellent,” Cleverley added.

“We took possession, and while we didn’t generate many opportunities, we were in control and annoyed the home crowd. On balance, we deserved to lead the game, and I’m sad that we didn’t handle it better at the end. We are better than that. We were nothing near good enough in the final ten minutes.

“We surrendered on two corner kicks; we can develop as a team. I don’t want to focus on the problems because there were many benefits. Mamadou Doumbia’s debut has hopefully put everybody at ease. I was always sure we had a capable number nine in the building, and he showed it tonight. He has a lot of talent; his hold-up play today was outstanding, occupying two veteran center defenders. His drive and quality were exceptional, and he should be quite proud of his performance.

“We shown character by going behind the ball, dominating possession, and frustrating opponents. I’m quite delighted with the performance; I’m just sorry for the guys and supporters who started so early that we couldn’t finish it – and it was a simple goal that did us. I’m sad because it feels like we hung on to it until the end because we deserved more. We struggled in the final ten minutes. It wasn’t very excellent, might I say? I didn’t place it like in the dressing room! There was some schoolboy behavior that I was dissatisfied with, but it is something I can correct. The whole performance was quite nice. I can correct the last 10 minutes, but I’m disappointed.

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