West Bromwich Albion 5 - 0 Watford

Brilliant Baggies take over at the top

Updated: October 31, 2009, 5:38 PM UK

Two goals in the first 18 minutes set the tone for the afternoon as the Baggies recorded their fifth home win of the season with room to spare.

Jonas Olsson's opener and a Graham Dorrans penalty made the game virtually safe before the interval and then Luke Moore, Gianni Zuiverloon and Simon Cox in quick succession wrapped things up.

Albion had come into the game with concerns over their strikeforce after failing to find the net in four of their last six league matches.

But boss Roberto Di Matteo's extra shooting sessions during the week clearly paid dividends as they simply ripped apart the out-of-sorts Hornets.

Within four minutes Watford's six-game unbeaten away bubble had been burst.

Lee Hodson was the Hornets' guilty party as he bundled over Joe Mattock on the left and when Dorrans curled in the free-kick, Olsson beat his marker to head into the corner.

It got worse just 14 minutes later. Adrian Mariappa was clumsy with his challenge this time as he brought down Moore in the box, and Dorrans stepped up to drill home the penalty.

Mariappa should have made amends for his error nine minutes before the break, but he scooped his shot from Don Cowie's corner over the crossbar.

Danny Graham then spurned a superb chance two minutes after the restart, drilling wide from six yards, before Moore put the Baggies beyond reach.

The former Aston Villa striker was quickest to react after 49 minutes when goalkeeper Scott Loach could only parry his stinging drive, and he followed up to net a simple rebound.

That was the cue for the return of Heidar Helguson for Watford as the on-loan QPR striker came on for Cowie soon after, having been sidelined since September with a calf problem.

But the action was all one way in the other direction, and after Moore had missed from six yards, another quickfire double made it even more emphatic for the hosts.

First Zuiverloon beat Loach from distance with a 20-yard drive, and with Watford still reeling, Cox went one better after 68 minutes - firing into the bottom corner from even further out.

Moore again could have made it six with 13 minutes left, before Nathan Ellington's header was tipped around the post in injury time as Watford were denied a late consolation.