Kurt Zouma booed over cat-kicking video as West Ham beat Watford
Boss David Moyes is defending his decision to include him in the line-up
Kurt Zouma got a first taste of the public outcry towards his cat-kicking shame as West Ham beat Watford 1-0.
Jarrod Bowen's second-half goal secured a much-needed victory for the top-four hopefuls, but the main talking point was the controversial inclusion of Zouma.
The French defender was named in the starting line-up despite a police enquiry into a video showing him dropping, kicking and slapping his pet cat, and despite the club insisting that it "unreservedly condemns the actions of our player".
Watford's visiting fans were quick to make their feelings clear by relentlessly booing Zouma's every touch and chanting, among other things, 'RSPCA, RSPCA'.
Former West Ham players Joe Cole and James Collins, at the match working as pundits, felt the club had made a mistake in refusing to drop the 27-year-old.
Cole told BT Sport "I think it's a miscalculation by the club. He could have sat this one out."
Yet despite the widespread revulsion towards the disturbing footage, Hammers manager David Moyes stuck with Zouma "because he is one of our better players".
Moyes added on BT Sport before the match:
"It is certainly ongoing and the club are dealing with it, so that is a separate matter."
The priority for Moyes was clearly getting West Ham's Champions League challenge back on track after successive defeats but it felt like he really had not read the room, especially as an online petition calling on Zouma to be "prosecuted for animal cruelty" had attracted 25,000 signatures by the time the match kicked off.