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At the London Stadium on Friday evening, it was the voices of Watford stalwarts Troy Deeney and Ben Foster that could be heard loudest throughout the fixture.
After the player’s observed a knee for their continued support for the Black Lives Matters movement, ‘keeper Foster bellowed a ‘Come On Then!’ in hope of inspiring the Watford players.
No performance was forthcoming, in fact that rallying cry spectacularly failed when Michail Antonio ran through with just six minutes on the clock.
The English forward continued his fine form since the restart by firing low past the English goalkeeper to give the Hammers an early lead.
In the build-up to the fixture, West Ham’s January signings of Jarrod Bowen and Tomas Soucek were praised by their manager. In the tenth minute, the former Hull winger’s cross found the big Czech to head West Ham into a two-goal lead.
The next noise to ring around East London was a ‘Are you going to check that?’ from Deeney. The Watford captain appealed every decision imaginable but failed to hold any real presence in the match, Watford’s only real threat coming from the less focal Ismaila Sarr.
The Senegalese international was unlucky to not win a penalty for his side on 15 minutes when flagged for a tight offside. Lukasz Fabianski’s blushes were spared as he later clattered into the forward which would have resulted in a Watford spot-kick.
Groans of pain rung round the Olympic Stadium near the half hour mark, and they came from a mark, Hammers skipper Mark Noble grimacing after a challenge from Will Hughes.
It was Noble’s 500th appearance in a West Ham shirt on Friday evening, and he’d prove influential in the third goal.
After a corner had recycled, Noble played Declan Rice on the edge to shoot. The England international wrapped his foot around the ball to fire in a spectacular effort.
The finish for the third goal left Soucek with hands on his head, Rice running over to David Moyes in celebration and a simple ‘wow’ from Foster, partly at the strike but more so at his team’s performance.
Craig Dawson headed over a chance for Watford soon after as moans continued to echo from the away bench.
Half-time had arrived and it may have been possible to hear Nigel Pearson’s stern team talk from the press box should West Ham have not decided to belt out 80’s classics over the tannoy.
There would be an urge to suggest Watford ‘had not turned up’ in the first 45, but my sighting of the team bus as I arrived to the stadium made that hard to believe.
It appeared to be a lack of quality that separated the sides. Antonio finished the first chance that arrived his way as did Soucek.
Sarr had managed to beat Angelo Ogbonna and Issa Diop on several occasions but his final action was almost always disappointing.
A fold of the arms from Pearson and the chewing of fingernails was the state of play for Craig Shakespeare as the second period began, the contest seemingly all but over.
Adam Masina was replaced by Adrian Mariappa, the shouts of ‘f***ing hell, Adam’ from the first 45 by Foster encapsulating the Italian’s performance.
Watford were now ruling the stadium noise as they strived for an avenue back into the match, goalkeeping coach Graham Stack’s loud, booming clap the main source of encouragement for the visitors.
Soon after, they were making the noise that they would have been so envious of during the first half, cheers.
After Abdoulaye Doucoure’s superb run and shot was denied by the post, Deeney followed up to slide the ball home and give a sliver of hope to the Hornets.
The goal sparked loud celebrations from the Watford bench and plenty of shouts from Foster and Deeney which blurred into a mishmash of encouraging gibberish.
This gibberish duly arrived after any inkling of Watford positivity in their forward play. These were balanced by frequent shouts of ‘don’t lose it’ to the central midfielders which hardly bred confidence into the side.
This was the most vital of games and you could sense it in the stadium. Despite the lack of fans occupying the seats of the London Stadium, the sounds heard throughout the 90 minutes proved as interesting as the football on show.
Martin Atkinson may have been tempted to produce a card for the tannoy announcer on 67 minutes when tripping over Troy Deeney’s name, ‘a clear and obvious’ attempt to waste valuable seconds for the hosts.
Fatboy Slim’s Ya Mama played during the drinks break telling the two teams to ‘push the tempo’, West Ham happy to ignore his advice to see out the final 20 minutes in a more controlled fashion.
Oohs and aah’s were next on the soundboard when substitute Sebastien Haller went close to lobbing Foster, the former England ‘keeper caught in no man’s land when trying to collect a defensive header.
These despairing groans were volleyed back when the toe of Danny Welbeck almost halved the deficit. A goal needed urgently now to make it a nervy finish for West Ham.
Every second mattered now, perfectly displayed by Will Hughes’ frustrations at not gaining a foul and pounding the floor. When Atkinson gave West Ham a cheap foul at the halfway line, the volume of Watford’s appeals displayed the significance of the result playing out.
Pearson aired his frustrations at Joao Pedro with a ‘hurry up, hurry up’, the Brazilian not being sharp enough in his preparations for his introduction.
Seven cries of ‘come on’ was counted from Pearson as Pedro volleyed wildly moments afterwards, the game now into five minutes of added time.
Looks to the heaven were aplenty from the Hornets boss but his side had been beaten, a first half horror show plunging his team into danger of the drop.
At full time, the biggest noise of all went up as West Ham celebrations filled the Stratford venue. A mixture of relief and pleasure could be seen and heard from the players and staff of the east Londoners.
They have all but secured another season of Premier League football, the quality of the Hammers overcoming Watford despite the encouragement from the visitors’ leaders throughout.
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