Noble brace powers West Ham to 4-1 win over Watford
Soccer Football - Premier League - Watford v West Ham United - Vicarage Road, Watford, Britain - May 12, 2019 West Ham's Mark Noble celebrates with team mates after scoring their fourth goal Action Images via Reuters/Craig Brough
(Reuters) - WATFORD 1 WEST HAM UNITED 4
West Ham captain Mark Noble netted a goal in each half as West Ham beat Watford 4-1 on the final day of the Premier League season, leap-frogging their opponents to claim 10th spot in the table with 52 points.
With next week's FA Cup Final against Manchester City still to come, Watford's defending was noticeably lacking in intensity and they ended the league season two points further back in 11th position.
Soccer Football - Premier League - Watford v West Ham United - Vicarage Road, Watford, Britain - May 12, 2019 West Ham's Mark Noble celebrates with Marko Arnautovic after scoring their fourth goal Action Images via Reuters/Craig Brough
Noble put the visitors ahead in the 15th minute and Manuel Lanzini made it two shortly before halftime, heading into an empty net with the defence caught flat-footed after Michail Antonio thumped a shot off the crossbar.
The second half had barely gotten underway when Gerard Deulofeu pulled one back for the home side, snapping up an under-hit back pass by Pablo Zabaleta and poking the ball past the onrushing Lukasz Fabianski before firing it into the net.
Any hope of a Watford comeback was snuffed out when Greek full-back Jose Holebas was shown a straight red card for his last-ditch tackle on Antonio, which will see him suspended for the cup final next week.
Soccer Football - Premier League - Watford v West Ham United - Vicarage Road, Watford, Britain - May 12, 2019 West Ham's Marko Arnautovic celebrates scoring their third goal Action Images via Reuters/Craig Brough
Watford seemed incapable of learning from their mistakes, and West Ham's third came from another rebound, Marko Arnautovic firing his 10th of the season before Noble rifled home a penalty to complete the rout 12 minutes from time.
(Reporting by Philip O'Connor; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
Soccer Football - Premier League - Watford v West Ham United - Vicarage Road, Watford, Britain - May 12, 2019 Watford's Kiko Femenia in action with West Ham's Michail Antonio REUTERS/Ian Walton Soccer Football - Premier League - Watford v West Ham United - Vicarage Road, Watford, Britain - May 12, 2019 West Ham's Manuel Lanzini celebrates scoring their second goal REUTERS/Ian Walton Soccer Football - Premier League - Watford v West Ham United - Vicarage Road, Watford, Britain - May 12, 2019 West Ham's Manuel Lanzini scores their second goal Action Images via Reuters/Craig Brough Soccer Football - Premier League - Watford v West Ham United - Vicarage Road, Watford, Britain - May 12, 2019 West Ham's Michail Antonio in action with Watford's Ben Foster REUTERS/Ian Walton Soccer Football - Premier League - Watford v West Ham United - Vicarage Road, Watford, Britain - May 12, 2019 West Ham's Mark Noble scores their first goal REUTERS/Ian Walton Soccer Football - Premier League - Watford v West Ham United - Vicarage Road, Watford, Britain - May 12, 2019 West Ham's Manuel Lanzini in action with Watford's Abdoulaye Doucoure and Will Hughes REUTERS/Ian Walton Soccer Football - Premier League - Watford v West Ham United - Vicarage Road, Watford, Britain - May 12, 2019 West Ham's Mark Noble celebrates with Issa Diop and Marko Arnautovic after scoring their first goal REUTERS/Ian Walton
Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
