Birthday boy Cleverley gifts Watford win over Burnley
For two sides relegated from the Premier League last campaign, you’d have been forgiven for immediately mistaking this as a top flight match, as the tempo was intense.
Perhaps this was a sign of improvement for both after failing to overcome their opponents in 1-1 draws last weekend, though for all their promising early attacking work, defences remained on top with no shots on target to speak of either way.
That was the case until the second minute of additional time at the end of the first half, when the Hornets succeeded in unlocking the Burnley backline.
A quick exchange of passes between Ismaila Sarr and Ken Sema down the right flank created the crucial chance, with the latter producing a gift of a pass from the byline for Cleverley to slot in from the centre of the penalty area on the day he turned 33.
Sadly, his goal didn’t come without consequence, as he picked up a knock in the process and was forced off during the break.
As a result, Rob Edwards’ side were on the way to their first home victory against the Clarets since 2017, but seeing out the result wasn’t going to be a simple task, as Vincent Kompany brought on new firepower in Nathan Tella, newly on loan from Southampton, and Jay Rodriguez, fresh back from injury.
The visitors began to ask questions of Watford as the clock ran down, and an additional problem for the hosts arose when Hassane Kamara was dismissed 10 minutes from time for pulling back Vitinho on the edge of the box.
To their rescue, however, came Daniel Bachmann, who pulled off a string of saves to ensure all three points stayed with his side.
The Austrian denied Josh Brownhill twice, first from an unmarked back-post volley and later from a powerful free-kick, before finally clawing a Rodriguez volley off the line.
To round things off Brownhill volleyed off the underside of the bar as Burnley, even with 64% possession, were condemned to their first televised victory in the second tier since March 2017.
Meanwhile, Watford provisionally rise to the top of the table.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Daniel Bachmann (Watford)