Four goals from Odion Ighalo helped Watford to overcome a two-goal deficit as they beat Blackpool 7-2 at Vicarage Road in the Championship this afternoon.
Victory for the Hornets came as the hosts produced seven goals in just over 30 second-half minutes to shatter the hopes of the bottom-placed Seasiders.
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Blackpool took the lead when the ball dropped to Andrea Orlandi, who still had it all to do in the centre of the box, but he kept his head to bend a wonderful finish into the top corner after eight minutes.
Watford should have been level, however, when Troy Deeney produced some neat skill to find Matej Vydra, with the midfielder shooting wide to the right despite the gaping goal in front of him.
The hosts wasted another half-chance to pull themselves back into contention when Ighalo picked out his strike partner Deeney, leaving the frontman to scuff his shot from the centre of the box.
Ighalo thought he had grabbed the important leveller with a 25-yard shot before the break, but had not banked on Blackpool stopper Elliot Parish, who leapt to his top corner to keep Pool in front.
Blackpool furthered the prospect of a major upset just before the interval when Steve Davies tucked into the top corner following a scramble in the box from a corner.
Watford began an exceptional transformation straight after the break when Ighalo latched on to Miguel Layun's cross to give the Hornets a lifeline.
The goal was to prove vital as Watford drew level thanks to Deeney just a few minutes later, with the frontman heading in following a pin-point delivery from midfielder Daniel Tozser.
The hosts were then in front when Ighalo bagged a brace, this time as Deeney turned provider to allow his partner to drill low into the bottom-left corner and make it 3-2.
Slavisa Jokanovic's men wrapped up the three points with just over 30 minutes left to play through Vydra, who broke into the area before finishing out of Parish's reach.
The promotion hopefuls added another in the 66th minute when Gabriele Angella profited from a corner, before Ighalo secured his match ball with a third in the 73rd minute.
Ighalo capped off a memorable afternoon in the Championship with his fourth nine minutes from time having bundled in from Deeney's inviting delivery.
Christopher Dodd
