Watford hit back to beat Hull and ease pressure on boss Paulo Pezzolano

Vivaldo Semedo’s first goal for Watford stifled the air of mutiny at Vicarage Road and handed under-fire head coach Paulo Pezzolano a gritty 2-1 win against Hull.

In a changeable atmosphere, with home fans at first turning on their own manager before the Hornets’ second-half fightback, 20-year-old Portuguese striker Semedo’s unmarked header from skipper Imran Louza’s corner 12 minutes from time completed an unlikely turnaround.

Louza’s first goal since February had cancelled out Oli McBurnie’s fifth of the season, which had put the Tigers on course for back-to-back wins in the Championship.

But Watford, who had kicked off in the bottom three – their lowest league position since October 2011 – summoned the spirit to lift the pressure on Pezzolano for now.

The tide was suddenly going out on the Uruguayan after blunt, barren defeats by Blackburn and Millwall.

Disgruntled fans left Monday night’s 1-0 loss at The Den with ominous refrains of ‘You’re getting sacked in the morning’ and owner Gino Pozzo – on his 21st head coach at Vicarage Road since 2012, nine of them in the last four years – has a track record of intervening when poor runs of form extend beyond a handful of games.

Pezzolano’s predecessors Tom Cleverley and Valerien Ismael were given short shrift when the going got tough and three years ago this week Rob Edwards was sacked after taking 14 points from his first 10 games.

Shuffling the pack like a casino croupier again, Pezzolano made four changes, including two right-backs – Jeremy Petris and Jeremy Ngakia – in the starting XI and two left-backs – Caleb Wiley and Marc Bola – on the bench.

In blustery conditions, Tigers goalkeeper Ivor Pandur managed to keep out Ngakia’s back-heeled finish with an instinctive early save.

Semedo was cautioned for a foul on Charlie Hughes, with Hull head coach Sergej Jakirovic following him into referee Oliver Langford’s notebook for his protests, before Pezzolano felt the wrath of his own supporters after 25 minutes.

McBurnie won the ball in midfield and appeared unmarked in the box to score with an emphatic finish from Cody Drameh’s low centre.

Watford fans, yet to see their side keep a clean sheet this season, responded with a fresh outbreak of the chorus speculating that Pezzolano’s job prospects were woefully finite.

McBurnie was close to doubling the visitors’ lead eight minutes before the break, curling a 20-yard shot against a post, before Hornets keeper Nathan Baxter’s sprawling save denied Drameh from close range.

Booed off at the break, Watford’s equaliser, seconds before the hour mark as Louza whipped a low finish inside Pandur’s left-hand post from Semedo’s lay-off, was as surprising as it was well-taken.

If the Moroccan playmaker’s equaliser calmed the sense of unrest, the home side were still relieved when Charlie Hughes drilled a low shot just beyond Baxter’s far post.

Then Semedo somehow missed from point-blank range, but he made amends as Hull switched off from Louza’s set-piece and Watford saw out the seven minutes of stoppage time comfortably.