Deeney penalty celebrations upset locals again as Watford end West Ham revival
Troy Deeney was the centre of attention – for both good and bad reasons – as Watford ended West Ham’s mini-revival of four straight wins with a 2-0 victory at the London Stadium.
The striker has history with the Hammers, having upset the locals with comments following a previous victory at the London Stadium two years ago.
Yesterday, Watford’s combative captain incurred the wrath of home supporters again with his flamboyant celebrations in front of them after his 30th-minute penalty set his side on the road to another win, confirmed by Gerard Deulofeu’s late goal.
After converting the penalty, Deeney ran towards one corner, slid on his knees and thumped the flagpole out of its socket. That brought abuse from supporters, one of whom hurled what appeared to be a cup of coffee at Deeney before he was led away.
His every touch thereafter was jeered as West Ham’s supporters made their feelings clear, but Deeney appeared unfazed.
Two years ago when Watford came from 2-0 down to win 4-2, Deeney accused the home side of showboating and a lack of respect after taking an early lead in a bad-tempered game. There was no less aggression in this one. Javi Gracia has instilled a blend of silk and steel in his side which West Ham struggled to cope with.
“I was confident in my players, and we created good chances,” he said. “We played really well and got what we dethat served with the victory.” On Deeney’s celebrations, he said: “I didn’t hear if he said something. I saw him run to the corner as many players do. I like the way he plays, his commitment. He may make mistakes, like all players, but he is our captain, an important player.”
West Ham went into the game on a run of four successive victories and started brightly. Michail Antonio and Declan Rice forced good saves from Ben Foster, but in the 27th minute Fabian Balbuena tripped Roberto Pererya after the Watford man exchanged passes with Deulofeu. Balbuena was perhaps lucky to get a yellow rather than red card but hurt himself in the challenge and had to leave the field soon after. By then, Deeney had thumped his penalty high into the net.
West Ham almost equalised before half-time when Antonio nodded down a cross for Javier Hernandez to volley towards goal from close range, but Foster made a marvellous save.
Early in the second half, Foster was relieved to see another Antonio header go past him but rebound off the inside of a post, to be cleared.
Watford had further chances. Lukasz Fabianski made a terrific save to tip over a volley from the excellent Abdoulaye Doucoure, who raced back to make a saving tackle moments later.
Foster stretched to keep out a header from Robert Snodgrass that took a deflection. Antonio headed the loose ball against the bar, a sure sign that it was not to be West Ham’s day. That was confirmed in the 87th minute when Deulofeu exchanged passes with Pereyra, slicing through the home defence, and placed a low shot in the net.