Wolverhampton Wanderers 4-0 Watford: Early goals heap misery on Roy Hodgson's side

Wolves scored three times in the opening 21 minutes as they recorded their biggest top flight win since 2011 to keep Watford in the relegation zone.

Roy Hodgson's Watford side knew a victory would take them level on points with fourth-bottom Everton.

But there was never a chance of that happening after a catastrophic start as Raul Jimenez turned home a 13th-minute opener from Hwang Hee-chan's short pass before a Cucho Hernandez own goal and a first-time Daniel Podence effort.

Ruben Neves rounded off the scoring with a magnificent chip five minutes from time as Wolves equalled their biggest Premier League win, matching their thrashing of Blackpool 11 years ago.

Watford have now taken five points from eight games under Hodgson and, worryingly for them, have played more matches than the sides immediately above them and have a worse goal difference.

Wolves meanwhile can reflect on having scored three times in the first-half of Premier League game at Molineux for the first time since the April 2019 win against Arsenal. This was also the first time they had ever done a Premier League double over Watford.

The result also keeps Bruno Lage's eighth-placed side in with a chance of securing a return to European football two seasons after reaching the Europa League quarter-finals.

Roy Hodgson has made no secret of his desire to bring defensive discipline to Watford, believing that if they are to succeed in their quest to avoid relegation, it will come through organisation.

The opening period must have come as a nasty shock.

Watford seemed unable to cope with a Wolves attack that has never been viewed as one of the more potent in the top flight.

Cucho Hernandez got his body position all wrong in turning Rayan Ait-Nouri's cross into his own