Tony Mowbray’s sends special message to Sunderland duo after Watford win

Sunderland won their second game in a row, beating Watford 2-0 thanks to goals from Niall Huggins and Abdoullah Ba.
Tony Mowbray complimented goalscorers Niall Huggins and Abdoullah Ba after Sunderland defeated Watford at the Stadium of Light. Huggins scored a fantastic solo goal immediately before halftime to give the Black Cats the lead, and Ba added the second shortly after the hour.

Watford finished the game with 10 men when substitute Ryan Andrews was sent off for a harsh challenge on Jack Clarke. Sunderland, on the other hand, were already on their way to victory.

 

“We did huff and puff again for 40 minutes in the first half against a really strong and powerful team, but we got the job done and I’m really pleased with the discipline and the centre-backs were amazing tonight,” Mowbray added. “He has wonderful athleticism and I’m pleased for him that he has broken through any kind of ceiling that was there, trying to disrupt [Patrick] Roberts and Clarke every week, and I’m pleased for him that he has broken through any kind of ceiling that was there.” He’s strong in the air, he’s got a great spring, he can run all day, he’s fast and mobile – he just needs to improve on his end product, and he scored today, so there you have it.

 

 

“We just need to see more goals, assists, and goal efforts, and he did that today.”

Huggins had earlier provided the kind of inspiration that usually comes from Roberts or Clarke, cutting in from the right-hand touchline and going past three players before firing a drive that went in off the underside of the crossbar.

“It usually comes from Clarke or Roberts, but this time it was Niall who scored an incredible goal,” Mowbray added.

“I’m quite pleased with Niall. He’s had a difficult year or two here due to injuries, but it’s been splattered with really brilliant moments – Birmingham away last year comes to mind as an example of him performing at a high level.

“You see in training how he can travel with the ball and he’s like an elastic-man, almost, the way he weaves in and out of people like he did for the goal.”

“Watford are a threat to any team, I believe, because they have talented individuals,” Mowbray remarked, “but we managed to keep a clean sheet and take all three points.”

 

We discussed how we would approach the second half, knowing that there would be more space, and we were considering playing with two up top and one ten, rather than one up top and two tens, because we thought they would gamble and we could slip in behind them.

“But we persevered with what we were doing and just tinkered with one or two things, and sitting here having won 2-0 feels good.”