TROY DEENEY SCORED twice to give Watford a 2-1 win over Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park and fire the Hornets up to eighth in the Premier League table.
Deeney opened the scoring in the 16th minute from the penalty spot before Emmanuel Adebayor marked his first home start for Palace with an equaliser on the stroke of half-time.
The former Arsenal and Tottenham striker, who had not found the back of the net since October 2014, looked to have ended Palace’s run of three successive home defeats in the Premier League with a fine header, but Deeney struck the decisive blow in the 82nd minute from Ben Watson’s cross.
Yohan Cabaye hit a post with a late volley for the hosts but they could not find a second leveller and ended the game with 10 men following Pape Souare’s dismissal for a horror tackle on Valon Behrami.
Watford’s victory is only their second in nine league outings and moves them up to eighth, while 12th-placed Palace have now gone nine matches without a win.
Meanwhile, Everton’s struggles at Goodison Park returned as Salomon Rondon snatched a much-needed 1-0 victory for West Brom.
Roberto Martinez’s side slipped to their sixth home league defeat of the season despite dominating throughout, as Albion were restricted to rare counter-attacks – the first of which resulted in the decisive goal.
Jonas Olsson’s header was converted by Rondon, the Venezuelan striker chesting the ball home from a yard out in the 14th minute.
Ross Barkley and Tom Cleverley both struck the woodwork before half-time as Everton piled on the pressure, and the introductions of Arouna Kone and Gerard Deulofeu after the break failed to have the desired effect for Martinez.
Tony Pulis’ team remained resolute to end a run of five Premier League games without a win and claim a first away victory since October, while Everton failed to close the gap on the European qualification places
Elsewhere, Giannelli Imbula and Ibrahim Afellay scored their first Premier League goals as Stoke City emphatically returned to form with a 3-1 win at Bournemouth.
The visitors took an early lead when a poor clearance on the edge of the area gave club-record singing Imbula the chance to net an impressive volley.
Despite suffering injury blows to Marc Muniesa and Glen Johnson, Stoke sealed the points with two goals in three minutes shortly after half-time.
Afellay confidently finished after a swift counter-attack, before substitute Joselu added a third with a towering header.
Bournemouth substitute Matt Ritchie pulled one back with an excellent strike, but it proved to be nothing more than a consolation for the hosts.
Stoke had suffered three straight league defeats and failed to score in their last four coming into the game, but the victory sees them move up to ninth.
Bournemouth, meanwhile, have only recorded three wins at the Vitality Stadium this season and remain 15th, four points clear of the bottom three after a second consecutive loss.
The42 is on Snapchat! Tap the button below on your phone to add!
