Watford vs West Ham match report: Odion Ighalo double bursts Hammers' bubble
Watford 2 West Ham United 0
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Your support makes all the difference.All good things have to come to an end, but surrendering their unbeaten away record in this fashion was not what Slaven Bilic would have had in mind.
This was an afternoon where the wheels came off for West Ham on the road. It was hard to fathom such a poor performance when everything that could have gone wrong did go wrong – costly calamitous mistakes, slack marking and a red card for James Collins. Watford could not have imagined this would be so comfortable as they cruised to a win few saw coming.
Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester City and Crystal Palace have all come a cropper against the away-day specialists but a game West Ham expected to win had long gone when Collins was red carded late on for hauling down Odion Ighalo. It was the closest he had come to the Nigerian striker all game.
Bilic, the West Ham manager, said: “It’s a tough league and you are going to lose games. But we helped them. We have to make sure this is a one-off. James will now miss three games and for that kind of foul it’s too much.”
There was nothing in the game until Andy Carroll gifted Watford a 39th-minute lead. The striker tried a dragback in his penalty area but was robbed by Nathan Ake, who crossed for Ighalo to bundle the ball into the net.
After the break Ighalo punished another error, from James Tomkins, by curling home in the 49th minute. It could and should have been more.
Substitute Enner Valencia did hit a post for the visitors but Collins’ 84th-minute dismissal summed up West Ham’s day.
Quique Flores, the Watford manager, said: “We kept the ball with confidence and that is good for the future. We are playing very well. It was our best performance.”
Watford: (4-4-2) Gomes; Nyom, Cathcart, Britos, Ake; Anya (Parades, 68), Capoue, Watson, Abdi (Behrami, 76); Ighalo (Guedioura, 86), Deeney.
West Ham: (4-2-3-1) Adrian; Jenkinson, Tomkins, Collins, Cresswell; Noble (Jelavic, 76), Kouyaté; Moses (Valencia, h-t), Payet, Lanzini (Zarate, h-t); Carroll.
Referee: Keith Stroud
Man of the match: Ighalo (Watford)
Match rating: 6/10
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