Watford made it four league wins on the bounce with a fully deserved victory over a below-par Liverpool outfit.
The damage was done in the first 15 minutes, with Nathan Ake capitalising on a horrible error by Adam Bogdan to score his first Hornets goal inside two minutes.
And they doubled their lead just over 10 minutes later as Odion Ighalo grabbed his first of the game after latching onto Troy Deeney’s through ball.
Liverpool settled the ship after the break but were then picked off on the counter in the last five minutes as Ighalo headed home Valon Behrami’s perfect cross to bring his season tally to 12.
The Nigerian has now scored five goals in his last four games for the modest London side.
With just a point separating the sides prior to kick off, Bogdan’s first Premier League start got off to the worst possible start just two minutes in.
The Hungarian, deputising for the injured Simon Mignolet, dropped and then proceeded to fumble the ball straight to Ake who bundled over the line from a yard.
And after a quarter of an hour matters got much worse for Jurgen Klopp’s travelling Reds. Deeney outmuscled Lucas Leiva in midfield before lifting the ball into Ighalo’s path, who fended off pressure from Martin Skrtel to fire expertly in off the far post.
While Bogdan was looking uncertain, Skrtel and the returning Mamadou Sakho in front of him were just as unconvincing in a distinctly pedestrian performance.
Bogdan nearly gift-wrapped Watford a third on the half-hour mark, punching the ball straight at Lucas Leiva who, but for Skrtel’s clearance, would have deflected into his own net.
Skrtel soon limped off to be replaced by Divock Origi as Klopp desperately searched for more attacking impetus, and the young Belgian striker did test Heurelho Gomes just after the break, albeit tamely.
Bogdan then marginally redeemed himself for his calamitous first half with an instinctive save to deny Ighalo when one on one before Jordan Henderson had a dipping volley tipped over at the other end.
Klopp introduced Jordon Ibe and Christian Benteke for the ineffective Adam Lallana and Roberto Firmino but it was Watford who would kill the game off in the dying stages.
After Liverpool squandered possession yet again in their own half, substitute Behrami raced down the right and crossed for Ighalo to head past the despairing Bogdan.
The result means the hosts have now won back-to-back home games for the first time in Premier League history and leaves them astonishingly just a point off the top four.
