Watford 2-0 West Ham: Ighalo at the double to sink 10-man Hammers

Posted Sunday, November 01, 2015 by Goal.com

The Nigerian struck either side of half-time to dent Slaven Bilic's side's hopes of keeping pace with the Premier League leaders, with James Collins seeing red at the death

West Ham's unexpected jockeying for position at the top of the Premier League took a blow on Saturday as two goals from Odion Ighalo secured a 2-0 win for Watford at Vicarage Road.

A moment of poor decision-making while defending a free kick by Andy Carroll saw the striker allow Nathan Ake to rob him of possession before crossing low for Ighalo to open the scoring shortly before half-time, deflecting it off Aaron Cresswell.

The Nigerian then doubled his side's advantage three minutes after the break, evading James Tomkins to pick up Ikechi Anya's cross and fire past Adrian from just inside the penalty area.

The Hammers had salt rubbed into their wounds in the closing minutes when James Collins was sent off for a dreadful challenge on Ighalo that left referee Keith Stroud with no option but to dismiss him.

A dominant Watford side were well worth the full three points and could have led as early as the eighth minute. Nathan Ake's header from Ben Watson's corner drew a fine point-blank save from Adrian and Stroud waved away penalty claims after Carroll nodded Troy Deeney's follow-up against his own arm.

The hosts had another claim for a penalty when Almen Abdi's flick appeared to hit Collins's hand, Ighalo played on and forced Adrian into another smart stop.

But the pressure finally told. Carroll - making his first Premier League start since February - dawdled in the area and Ake stole in before squaring across goal for Ighalo, who pressured Cresswell to force it into the net.

Another West Ham error helped the Hornets three minutes after the interval. Tomkins made a hash of Ikechi Anya's low cross from the left, allowing Ighalo to take a touch out of his feet before hammering his shot into the left-hand corner.

Adrian was equal to Ighalo one-on-one as Watford turned the screw and Deeney miscued badly from the edge of the box after Etienne Capoue did well in midfield.

Carroll sliced a volley wide and Enner Valencia hit the post as Bilic's men tried to mount a late comeback but their momentum was checked as Collins was handed his marching for orders for going through the back of Ighalo in the 84th minute, helping Watford cruise to a first home win over West Ham in the league since 1985.