Watford v West Ham United (2018-19)

Watford v West Ham United (2018-19)

Watford West Ham United 1 4
Report
Event	Premier League 2018-19
Date	Sunday 12 May 2019
Venue	Vicarage Road, London
Player of the Match	Michail Antonio
Referee	Chris Kavanagh
Attendance	20,067
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Watford v West Ham United was a match which took place at the Vicarage Road on Sunday 12 May 2019.

West Ham manager Manuel Pellegrini feels his team has "grown a step" as they clinched a top-10 finish for the first time since 2016 with an emphatic win over FA Cup finalists Watford at Vicarage Road.

Two goals from Mark Noble, plus one each from Manuel Lanzini and Marko Arnautovic sealed the points at Vicarage Road as Watford struggled after Jose Holebas was sent off for tugging back Michail Antonio.

Pellegrini, whose team have won their final three games of the season, said: "I think that we have grown a step this season and we are happy to finish the way we did.

"We have improved on points, goals scored and goals conceded. I think the fans have enjoyed it more than they did last season."

Captain Noble got them off to the perfect start against the run of play, swapping passes with Antonio before dancing past Christian Kabasele to slot home the opener.

Lanzini doubled their lead five minutes before the break, heading home after Antonio's rasping drive had been turned on to the crossbar by Ben Foster.

Gerard Deulofeu briefly gave Watford hope as he scored 11 seconds into the second half, but just two minutes later the hosts were reduced to 10 men as Holebas was dismissed for hauling back Antonio.

Watford visibly tired and Arnautovic took full advantage to seal the three points after Foster had saved Felipe Anderson's volley on to the post.

There was still time for Antonio to win a penalty for West Ham and Noble duly dispatched his second of the game past a wrong-footed Foster.

This result means Watford have managed just one win in six going into the FA Cup final with Manchester City at Wembley on Saturday.

Antonio may not have got the goal his dynamic performance deserved but he played a crucial part in West Ham's victory.

He scored the winner in West Ham's last away game at Tottenham and his bristling threat caused Watford problems all afternoon.

He served notice of his speed early on, barracking past Kabasele only to be squeezed out by Foster.

Shortly afterwards he got the first of his assists, showing excellent strength to hold off challenges from three Watford defenders before unleashing a venomous strike that Foster turned on to the crossbar.

The West Ham players rushed to congratulate him as much as their goalscorer Lanzini, who nodded the rebound home.

After Deulofeu's goal briefly threatened a Watford revival, it was Antonio who nudged in behind the home defence and forced Holebas to tug him back, resulting in a red card for the defender and killing Watford's comeback.

He may have fallen a little easily for the West Ham penalty but there was no doubt that Kiko Femenia pulled him down, leaving Noble with the simple task of scoring from the spot.

It's been an inconsistent season for West Ham - excellent wins against Arsenal and Tottenham undermined by defeats at Cardiff and Brighton - but three successive wins to round off the campaign hints at a brighter future for Manuel Pellegrini's men.

For most of the season, Watford have been overachievers, winning their first four games and being a firm fixture in the Premier League's top 10.

Javi Gracia's side have been consistently solid, carried a real threat through Deulofeu and Troy Deeney, and made light work of the sides below them in the table.

They have secured their highest Premier League finish and best points tally, and have won plenty of friends with their performances.

However, since making the FA Cup final in dramatic fashion five weeks ago, their form has tailed off drastically and it looks a tall order for them to topple Manchester City's treble quest at Wembley next week.

At times, they looked good against Watford. Slick interplay spearheaded by Abdoulaye Doucoure and Deulofeu deserved more, and being two goals down after dominating the first half was harsh.

It might have been different had Lukasz Fabianski not pulled off a wonder save from Troy Deeney on the stroke of half time or referee Christopher Kavanagh shown Holebas a yellow card instead of a red for the challenge on Antonio just two minutes after Deulofeu had halved the deficit.

"We will appeal the red card," Watford manager Javi Gracia said. "It made it impossible for us and for a player to miss the FA Cup final based on that contact is not right.

"I want to recognise the work my players have done over the whole season as we have achieved the best season ever in the Premier League, and now we have the chance to play the FA Cup final."

Unfortunately for Watford, their brave resistance wilted in the May sunshine and the Hornets were grateful to their 36-year-old keeper Foster for his fine saves of Arnautovic and Antonio in the final quarter.

Manager Gracia has proved himself to be a canny tactician all season.

He will need all of his nous at Wembley next week.

Match

Details

Sunday 12 May 2019 15:00	Watford	1–4	West Ham United	Vicarage Road, London Attendance: 20,067 Referee: Chris Kavanagh
	Deulofeu  46' Holebas  48'	Report	Noble  15', 78' (pen.) Lanzini  39' Arnautović  71'

Watford

West Ham United

26 Ben Foster 21 Kiko Femenía 27 Christian Kabasele 78' 15 Craig Cathcart 25 José Holebas 16 Abdoulaye Doucouré 29 Étienne Capoue 19 Will Hughes 67' 37 Roberto Pereyra 07 Gerard Deulofeu 59' 09 Troy Deeney Substitutes: 01 Heurelho Gomes 02 Daryl Janmaat 06 Adrian Mariappa 78' 10 Isaac Success 11 Adam Masina 67' 14 Nathaniel Chalobah 18 Andre Gray 59' Manager: Javi Gracia

01 Łukasz Fabiański 24 Ryan Fredericks 26' 04 Fabián Balbuena 23 Issa Diop 26 Arthur Masuaku 41 Declan Rice 79' 30 Michail Antonio 16 Mark Noble 10 Manuel Lanzini 67' 08 Felipe Anderson 07 Marko Arnautović Substitutes: 05 Pablo Zabaleta 26' 11 Robert Snodgrass 13 Adrián 15 Carlos Sánchez 79' 17 Javier Hernández 19 Jack Wilshere 67' 21 Angelo Ogbonna Manager: Manuel Pellegrini

See also

• 2018-19 Premier League: Match day 38

Final League Table

2018–19 Premier League Table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Notes
1	Manchester City  (C)	38	32	2	4	95	23	+72	98	Qualification for the Champions League group stage
2	Liverpool	38	30	7	1	89	22	+67	97
3	Chelsea	38	21	9	8	63	39	+24	72
4	Tottenham Hotspur	38	23	2	13	67	39	+28	71
5	Arsenal	38	21	7	10	73	51	+22	70	Qualification for the Europa League group stage
6	Manchester United	38	19	9	10	67	52	+15	66
7	Wolverhampton Wanderers	38	16	9	13	47	46	+1	57	Qualification for the Europa League second qualifying round
8	Everton	38	15	9	14	54	46	+8	54
9	Leicester City	38	15	7	16	51	48	+3	52
10	West Ham United	38	15	7	16	52	55	−3	52
11	Watford	38	14	8	16	52	59	−7	50
12	Crystal Palace	38	14	7	17	51	53	−2	49
13	Newcastle United	38	12	9	17	42	48	−6	45
14	Bournemouth	38	13	6	19	56	70	−14	45
15	Burnley	38	11	7	20	45	68	−23	40
16	Southampton	38	9	12	17	45	65	−20	39
17	Brighton & Hove Albion	38	9	9	20	35	60	−25	36
18	Cardiff City  (R)	38	10	4	24	34	69	−35	34	Relegation to EFL Championship
19	Fulham  (R)	38	7	5	26	34	81	−47	26
20	Huddersfield Town  (R)	38	3	7	28	22	76	−54	16

Source: Barclays Premier League
Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd goal difference; 3rd number of goals scored.
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round; (Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament

External links

• Match report at BBC.co.uk