Wednesday 20 April 2016 23:42, UK
Slaven Bilic was pleased with West Ham's "stylish" 3-1 win over Watford on Wednesday, but the Hammers manager warned his side they must be more lethal in front of goal.
The hosts went ahead through Andy Carroll at Upton Park, and two Mark Noble penalties either side of half-time put Bilic's side in control.
They squandered several opportunities to make the game safe with Victor Moses and Manuel Lanzini both guilty, and Watford threatened to make things nervy when Sebastian Prodl pulled a goal back, but Troy Deeney saw his late penalty saved.
The victory keeps West Ham in contention for European qualification, and Bilic was pleased they kept pace with fifth-placed Manchester United, who remain three points clear of the Hammers after they beat Crystal Palace 2-0 at Old Trafford.
"We won and we did it in style," Bilic said. "We played good football and we should, and could, have scored more goals. At the end it was a decisive game for us. We said to players this game is likely to decide whether we look up if we win or down if we lose.
"Of course there are still a few clubs below us queuing, but it is nice to have a five-point cushion over Southampton or nine points to Stoke.
"Liverpool are there and they are in good form, but we stay in the same distance from Manchester United.
"We had many chances and when you win, you are happy that you are positive and creating the chances. But in general we have to be more lethal. We could have scored four or five.
"Football can be cruel and if they had scored the penalty it would have been a dodgy couple of minutes. It was poor finishing and some good saves from Heurelho Gomes."
Referee Mike Dean awarded three penalties, two to West Ham and one to Watford, with West Ham's Angelo Ogbonna penalised after a tussle with Prodl in the box.
It comes after West Ham were involved in controversial penalty decisions against Leicester, and Bilic believes Premier League matches are likely to see several similar penalty calls as a result.
"The Leicester game had a huge impact, not only in England, and for the rest of the season we can expect a few more of them," he added. "Our second penalty was blatant. The first one, yes, because it was dragging for a long time - two or three seconds. I didn't see for their penalty.
"The referee was good today, he controlled the game totally."
