Watford duo Will Hughes and Richarlison hand David Moyes nightmare start to life as West Ham manager

Watford 2 West Ham 0: The win puts the Hornets in eighth while the Hammers stay stuck within the bottom three

Watford were the better team despite West Ham's chances (Getty)

David Moyes endured a nightmare first game as West Ham manager as goals from Will Hughes and Richarlison burst any faint bubbles of optimism.

Moyes' appointment just under a fortnight ago went down like his Sunderland team last season with the vast majority of Hammers fans.

But the noises emanating from their Rush Green training ground had been encouraging, with the no-nonsense Scot apparently going back to basics with a squad who were not only in the relegation zone but also bottom of the statistical charts when it came down to the basic requirement of running.

Facing a team who had lost three on the spin, and with their manager Marco Silva unsettled by an approach from Everton, Watford appeared perfect fodder for Moyes to get off to a positive start.

However, Moyes also inherited the worst defence in the division, and a deeply unhappy club with angry chants of 'sack the board' and 'you're not fit to wear the shirt' - among the publishable ones - coming from the away end.

It was Richarlison's fifth goal of the season (Getty)

The rot set in after just 10 minutes. Watford debutant Marvin Zeegelaar, who needed lengthy treatment after running into Andy Carroll's errant elbow in the opening seconds, had recovered sufficiently to swing in a cross from the left towards Hughes.

Aaron Creswell's half clearance fell to Andre Gray, whose miskicked effort was deflected back to Hughes allowing the summer signing from Derby to sweep in his first goal for the club.

No amount of running was going to prevent defending like that.

Carroll had avoided a booking for clattering Zeegelaar but he rectified that by nudging Richarlison off the ball, and Marko Arnautovic followed him into the referee's notebook for an ugly lunge on Tom Cleverley.

If West Ham were attempting to bully Watford, though, it simply was not working.

Gomes made a number of vital saves in the Watford goal (Getty)

Richarlison was allowed too much space in the penalty area and his low shot forced Joe Hart into a good save, with Kiko Femenia drilling the rebound, via a deflection, inches wide.

Yet amidst the chaos West Ham almost snatched an equaliser, Mark Noble feeding Cheikhou Kouyate who should have found the net but shot too close to Heurelho Gomes.

And in first-half stoppage time Pablo Zabaleta's cross was met by Arnautovic, who was denied by a stunning double save from Gomes at point-blank range.

The Brazilian was diving one way but stuck out a hand in the other direction to block Arnautovic's header, and then stretched out a leg to divert the rebound wide.

There was still time for the ever-lively Richarlison to curl an effort narrowly past Hart's left-hand post before half-time.

Early in the second half Femenia skipped past the dawdling Cresswell and crossed low to Gray, who pinged a first-time shot wide, and Abdoulaye Doucoure was inches away with a curler from the edge of the area.

Moyes got off to the worst possible start as West Ham boss (Getty)

At the other end Kouyate blew another golden chance, lifting his shot high over the crossbar from 12 yards out from Arnautovic's square ball.

Hart was back in action on the hour, pulling off a fine save to keep out a header from Adrian Mariappa as Watford searched for the killer second.

But Hart was beaten, not for the first time possibly too easily, when Richarlison collected a Hughes header and burst down the left before cutting inside and finding the opposite corner.

Moyes knew his luck was not in when Manuel Lanzini's goalbound shot was cleared off the line by Christian Kabasele.

And if did not already know it, the former Everton and Manchester United boss was also given a stark reminder of the task in front of him.