Watford 2 West Brom 0: Niang and Deeney see off disappointing Baggies

Watford put an end to their long-standing struggles in home matches with West Brom to move into the top half of the Premier League with a comfortable 2-0 victory at Vicarage Road.

M’Baye Niang’s rasping first-half strike and a second-half effort from Troy Deeney sealed their first three points at home against the Baggies since November 1994.

West Brom could not take advantage of a second half red card for Miguel Britos, Nacer Chadli’s free-kick that clattered against the woodwork in the opening period their best chance.

It is a second consecutive victory for Walter Mazzarri’s men after a poor run of form, and one which consolidates their mid-table position – 10 points above the bottom three – ahead of a tricky trip to Tottenham on Saturday.

The defeat is a blow for West Brom’s chances of competing for a European place after they had taken four points from games with Arsenal and Manchester United.

The game quickly settled into a pattern of the hosts dominating possession and the visitors seeking to attack rapidly on the counter.

It almost paid dividends for West Brom after just seven minutes, Heurelho Gomes forced to react sharply to smother Chadli’s low effort following a raking through ball from Darren Fletcher.

But it was Watford who found the opener just six minutes later through Niang, who latched onto a clever Deeney flick, cut inside from the left flank and smashed a fierce drive beyond Ben Foster into the right corner.

Tom Cleverley’s goal-bound shot was well blocked and Nordin Amrabat’s skewed strike across goal hurried Craig Dawson into a scrambled clearance ahead of the waiting Deeney as the Hornets continued to dominate.

But West Brom almost scored an unlikely equaliser in the 40th minute through a piece of individual brilliance from Chadli, who watched his curling 25-yard free-kick rattle Gomes’ right-hand post.

A long-range effort from Chris Brunt went over the bar within a minute of the restart as the Baggies sought to up the tempo.

But Watford killed off their visitors’ mini-revival in the 49th minute through Deeney, the Watford captain racing onto a perfectly weighted first-time Niang ball over the top to poke underneath the onrushing Foster.

Brunt mirrored Niang’s lofted pass ten minutes later to find Chadli, but the Belgian forward could only guide a difficult volley wide of the near post.

Watford were rocked on 65 minutes by the dismissal of Britos – much to the fury of Mazzarri on the touchline – with the defender given a second yellow for tugging on the shirt and upending Salomon Rondon.

Britos’ red card came with the Hornets having already lost centre-half partner Sebastian Prodl just before the interval through injury, but the hosts were still able to hold firm for the points.

Rondon guided a header just over, however, West Brom failed to create much despite their numerical advantage in a disappointing performance from the Baggies.