Watford vs Hull: Michael Dawson's late own goal condemns Tigers to fifth consecutive defeat

Watford 1 Hull 0: The Tigers remain in the bottom three, two points from safety

Gomes celebrates the late winner (Getty)

Watford added three points to their total thanks to Michael Dawson’s own goal, which condemned Hull to a sixth successive Premier League defeat.

Whether the home side will still have them come the end of the season remains to be seen however as the Hornets are under investigation following allegations that forged bank documents were used when Gino Pozzo assumed sole control of the club from father Giampaolo in 2014. A points deduction remains a possibility if found guilty.

The game started at a frantic pace with Watford goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes having to punch away under pressure before the home side replied with two strikes on the woodwork in a space of seconds.

Younes Kaboul thumped a header from Roberto Pereyra’s corner on to the underside of the bar and when Hull struggled to clear their lines Pereyra, having moved to a position 20 yards from goal on the left, sent a superb curling effort that beat David Marshall in the Tigers goal before clipping the outside of his left-hand post.

Watford continued to dominate as Nordin Amrabat made regular inroads down the right but Marshall was able to get behind Valon Behrami’s low drive from outside the box.

Will Keane was too high with Hull’s next effort, also from hopeful range, but both sides were finding it difficult to replicate the excitement of the opening exchanges.

Troy Deeney fired wide for Watford after referee Jon Moss decided not to penalise Michael Dawson for octopus arms all over Odion Ighalo as the pair toppled to the turf on the edge of the Hull box.

Deeney should have opened the scoring five minutes before half time when Amrabat’s shot reared up off the turf over the Hull defence and found its way to the back post where the skipper and strike partner Ighalo were both lurking. It was Deeney who saw his downwards header bounce over the bar from all of three yards out.

The second half started with another interplay between Amrabat and Pereyra down the right but the latter’s shot was disappointingly high.

Troy Deeney is still looking for his 100th Watford goal (Getty)

That had been the case just before the break when Abel Hernandez let fly but the striker was given a proper sight of goal when Will Keane flicked on a Marshall hoof downfield. Gomes got his angles right however as the Hull man shot at him with defenders trailing.

Behrami was booked for hacking Sam Clucas down but Hull made a mess of the free-kick and were almost caught on the counter attack as Deeney was only just crowded out in time in front of goal.

Ryan Mason and Clucas were booked in quick succession for obvious trips and the second period went the way of the first in terms of quality moments.

Ighalo headed wide and Kaboul was replaced by Darryl Janmaat seconds after blasting a 30-yarder hopelessly wide.

Janmaat helped break the deadlock at long last as his ball into a crowded box, aimed at Deeney or Ighalo, was deflected in off Dawson’s thigh.

Mazzarri, who was manager of Reggina when they suffered a 15-point deduction in 2006 in a Serie A match rigging scandal, insisted he was not worried about a similar outcome.

“Believe me when I tell you that you that inside the club we are very calm,” he said.

“When we prepared for this game we didn't even think about what was in the newspaper, my job and the players' job is to work on the pitch, that is what we do, not even one player has asked me about it.

Ryan Mason tries to grab a goal back for Hull (Getty)

“At the moment we don't need to think about the table or look at the table.

“I always say I don't have any problem where we can get and what we can achieve, I came here with a plan with the club to grow a lot in the next one or two years, we as a club are one and we have to look at the end of the season to where we are.”

Hull beat champions Leicester on the opening day and then won their next match, at Swansea, but have been beaten every time in the Premier League since a 1-1 draw at Burnley on September 10.

Mike Phelan was in temporary charge at that point. “When I was caretaker we won a few games since I've been manager we haven't,” he said.

“But we have played against teams that are hard to play against, we have come into a spell now when we expecting a little bit more and haven't been able to get over the line.

“The players are committed and they are disappointed when they are right to be disappointed.”

Watford (3-5-2): Gomes 7; Kaboul 7 (Janmaat 72, 6), Prodl 7, Britos 7: Amrabat 8 (Zuniga 85), Behrami 6, Capoue 6, Holebas 6; Pereyra 7; Ighalo 5, Deeney 6.

Subs: Pantilimon, Kabasele, Watson, Guedioura, Sinclair.

Hull City (3-5-2): Marshall 7; Maguire 7, Dawson 7, Davies 7; Elmohamedy 6, Livermore 6, Mason 6, Clucas 7, Henriksen 6; Keane 6 (Meyler 78, 5), Hernandez 6.

Subs: Jakupovic, Huddlestone, Maloney, Weir, Tymon, Bowen.