Deeney the Grinch makes flagging Hammers flinch

West Ham 0

Watford 2

Deeney 30 (pen), Deulofeu 87

UP on the London Stadium’s big screens before kick-off were various West Ham players dressed up to look like Santa Claus. The game was to guess who was behind the white beards. On the pitch, there was no need to throw a disguise over Troy Deeney, as the Watford captain played the role of the villainous Grinch to perfection. You know he loves the hatred too.

Deeney scored, sprinted towards the home fans, tried to do a knee slide, failed as he bounced off the turf, got up, punched the corner flag out of the ground and laughed hysterically. He soaked up the vitriol pouring towards him from fans in that corner as well as the plastic coffee cup tossed his way.

‘I cannot tell you if it’s a good or bad celebration,’ said Watford head coach Javi Gracia. ‘I don’t know. I like the way he plays. His commitment, all the things he does day by day. Like all our players, maybe he can make mistakes but he is our captain and this was an important day for us.’

Gerard Deulofeu completed the scoring in the dying minutes but West Ham were left asking themselves how they lost this.

Michail Antonio twice hit the woodwork, Javier Hernandez fluffed glorious chances, while Watford’s Ben Foster was in one of those formidable moods that can take over goalkeepers.

‘We were unlucky to not at least draw the game,’ manager Manuel Pellegrini said. ‘Unfortunately, we did not score then they scored their second goal.’

So there was no fifth win in a row for West Ham but there was a clean sheet for Watford, their first since October.

There was a lull inside the ground in the first half, as if fans had munched too many mince pies and nodded off. But Deeney soon woke them up.

It started with a one-two between Deulofeu and Roberto Pereyra. Just as the latter was set to pull the trigger, Fabian Balbuena lunged in, taking none of the ball but all of the man. Referee Lee Mason pointed to the penalty spot and produced a yellow as Balbuena lay on the floor, having injured himself in the process.

Deeney thumped the ball into the top corner, then came the celebration. The knee slide, the smacking of the corner flag into the air, even a finger to the lips to shush supporters. Why the ill feelings towards the home side from Deeney? It perhaps has something to do with their meeting at this stadium in September 2016.

West Ham found themselves 2-0 up on that day and were showboating. Watford came back to win 4-2, and Deeney later said he felt the home side were trying to ‘mug’ off the Hornets. After the break, Antonio sent a header crashing against the post from a corner. Hernandez then should have levelled but, somehow, scuffed a shot from six yards with the goal gaping. It was one of many head-in-hands moments from the Mexican.

In the 85th minute, Grady Diangana sent a cross into Robert Snodgrass, whose deflected header was brilliantly denied by Foster. Antonio’s follow-up header found the bar.

Then came the sucker punch. A series of one-twos between Pereyra and Deulofeu ended with the latter finding the bottom corner. The TV cameras showed a substituted Deeney laughing on the bench. As if we would expect anything less from the game’s infamous pantomime villain.