Watford 1 : 4 West Ham

Four different West Ham players scored but none was Michail Antonio. Three Czech players played for the same club for the first time ever in the EPL but none was club legend Ludek Miklosko.

Tomas Soucek, Said Benrahma, Mark Noble and Nikola Vlasic netted for the visitors. Ex-Slavia men Soucek, Alex Kral and Vladimir Coufal all appeared in the claret and blue although Ludek Miklosko, a West Ham and Czech Republic club legend, was still loudly serenaded.

Incidentally his birth place Prostějov is 1073 miles from Moscow and just 952 miles from the London Stadium, so he’s from nearer Plaistow than Moscow,

But West Ham fans will not worry too much about the geographical accuracy of a terrace hymn after a tremendous performance which will once again make other clubs around them a little nervous.

What is accurate is that with this win, David Moyes’ side ended a run of five games without a win.

“If Newcastle’s much anticipated spending spree in the January transfer window goes wrong, relegation could amount to Norwich, Newcastle and one other.

There was not enough evidence here that Watord are significantly worse than Burnley, Brentford or Leeds and that such a gap is unbridgeable.”

Bizarrely, it seemed like it was a Watford goal that sparked the Irons’ revival.

With around 250 seconds gone, Emmanuel Dennis scored a peach of a goal from distance that had all the hallmarks of a goal worthy of winning a Premier League match.

Wisdom bore down on the press gantry and told us that the recent dip in West Ham form plus this instant setback would lead to an afternoon of woe for Davie Moyes and three vital points for Watford, as the Hammers’ confidence dwindled.

Wisdom was too sober to be wise.

The Dennis goal ignited a spark amongst the Irons, which metal, being a good carrier of electric charge, ran right down the spine of the team.

Even before they scored two goals in two minutes, they were beginning to overrun the Hornets.

25' Hernandez and Joshua King link up well to relieve some of the Hammers pressure but an equaliser looks more likely than a doubling of the lead@Watfordfc 1 : 0 @Westham @ProstInt #WATWHU

— Steve Clare (@Steve__Clare) December 28, 2021

And so it was to be.

On 27′, Tomas Soucek eclipsed Dennis with an equally crisp long-range effort giving the Irons a well-deserved equaliser. Seconds later, Antonio laid the ball back brilliantly for Benrahma who slotted in the go-ahead goal.

Watford were being carved open and there was very little sign thereafter that the lead would change hands again.

The second half was less competitive. VAR chalked off a West Ham third from Jarrod Bowen and then awarded them a penalty, which Mark Noble converted in front of the West Ham fans for his first league goal since January 2020.

By the time the Croat Vlasic rolled the ball into the empty net in stoppage time, everybody’s minds had turned to the next fixture.

Moyes singled out Noble for praise after the game:

“He (Noble) gave me the performance I really hoped for and the leadership and quality from someone who has had so many games at the club, he knows what it means and knew that we had been in a sticky period and he handled it no problem.

“Overall he was probably as good as anybody on the pitch today with how he performed and the way he led the team so I have to give him big plaudits for it.”

West Ham moved back into fifth spot above Tottenham and chatter about Champions League football can only get louder in East London.

Czech football historians and Vlasic, who scored his first goal, will probably remember this match more than most, but if West Ham do make the Champions League places, this will be the afternoon they point to, where they turned the ship around.

If they can play this well without Declan Rice, and score four goals without either Antonio or Jarrod Bowen on the chart, things are looking good. Indeed, the four men who netted at Vicarage road had scored just six league goals between them beforehand with both Noble and Vlasic opening their league account for the season.

“Miklosko’s birth place Prostějov is 1073 miles from Moscow and just 952 miles from the London Stadium, so he’s from nearer Plaistow than Moscow.”

There was really very little Watford boss Claudio Ranieri will want to take from this game as he plans for Tottenham, Newcastle United and Norwich, the latter two in key basement battles. After facing West Ham again, Brighton and Aston Villa are the opposition. There are plenty of opportunities for points and double figures has to be the target.

If Newcastle’s much-anticipated spending spree in the January transfer window goes wrong, relegation could amount to Norwich, Newcastle and one other. There was not enough evidence here that Watford are significantly worse than Burnley, Brentford or Leeds and that such a gap is unbridgeable.