Referee:Jonathan Moss Attendance:20,051
clips of Jon Marks BBC 3CR commentary Goals: 1 2
RELIVE – Pereyra stars as Hornets down Seagulls
Watford’s Premier League campaign is up and running from day one after a Roberto Pereyra brace fired them to a deserved and impressive 2-0 victory over Brighton & Hove Albion victory at Vicarage Road.
Gracia: Manner of win ‘more important to us’
Formation ‘can change depending on opponents’
RATINGS: Pereyra the star in excellent team performance
Doucoure had ‘worked very hard’ despite no pre-season match minutes
Pereyra can be ‘important player’ for Hornets
Pereyra praises team display after starring role against Seagulls
Brighton manager Chris Hughton said he was left to “wonder what happened” after his side were comfortably beaten by Watford at Vicarage Road.
It was all too comfortable for Watford, who controlled the game impressively in the second half, while Brighton have plenty of work ahead after failing to register a single shot on target throughout the 90 minutes.
If, as most bookmakers have predicted, this is the season Watford’s stay in the Premier League comes to an end, then somebody had better tell their players. Judging by the manner of their victory here, they have not seen the odds or have done so and been fuelled by a sense of defiance.
Watford had never previously won an opening day fixture in the Premier League yet came through this one with little alarm. Roberto Pereyra, the former Juventus winger, scored both goals on a day when Brighton rarely troubled Ben Foster in the home goal.
In many respects the question on Brighton is quite how bad they were, versus how bad we made them look. The goal is an example… someone should have been keeping an eye on Pereyra but he arrived late to fill the space on the edge of the box vacated by decoy runs to the near post. Yes, Albion were dozy but we forced the issue. Similarly in midfield, Albion were overrun and perhaps even complacent but it was in the face of our relentless and disciplined pressing that it crumpled. When we broke, particularly in the first half having regained possession deep we hurtled through the midfield; there’s maybe a concern that we didn’t capitalise but with Deulofeu’s pace and Chalobah’s awareness to return you’ve got to fancy us away from home.
A relatively stress free afternoon on the opening day. I’m happy to say that all the nerves I had before the game were put to rest fairly early on. Watford looked sharp and hungry. The pressure that Deeney and Gray applied to the Brighton back line was telling and the visitors couldn’t cope. Capoue bossed the midfield whilst the centre back pairing of Kabasele and Cathcart gave Foster little to do all afternoon.
Chris Iwelumo scored in extra-time as Watford beat League Two Wycombe in the Capital One Cup in Gianfranco Zola’s first competitive match in charge.
BHappy report: Well that was more eventful than expected. The summer I mean… not the game, obviously, we’ll get to that. But doesn’t that Middlesbrough win seem an awfully long time ago. Little suggestion then of the upheaval that was to follow (and which still continues, I don’t think we’ve anything like finished yet…); if the long-term ownership of the club was in question there was certainly no indication that August would see us under a new manager (why would we?) or with a whole shedload of new players (how could we?). Turbulent, unnerving and also (and let’s be absolutely clear about this) to the unquestionable benefit, ultimately, of the football club. But quite possibly leaving a few disassociated, with nothing familiar to hold on to. So thank heaven and earth for the First Round of the League Cup (sponsored by whoever). Even today, a balmy Saturday afternoon instead of a cool Tuesday night. It never disappoints, never fails to sap the start of season excitement from the marrow, grounds us, reminds us what it’s all about.
Doris, Kabba and Shittu all involved on the first day of the season. Who’d have thought it?
If you accept that the armchair viewer is now all-powerful – and why else would this game have kicked off at a time that satisfies neither tradition nor convenience for attending supporters – then you naturally start to ponder where it might all end. Because there’s only one thing that the TV companies don’t yet control, which is the level of entertainment on offer.
BSAD report: 
