Referee:Jonathan Moss Attendance:20,051
Match Report: Watford 2-0 Brighton & Hove Albion
Pereyra: “This Is Just The Start”
Gracia: “The Way We Did It Was Important”
Highlights: Watford 2-0 Brighton & Hove Albion
Gray: “We’ve Got A Good Understanding”
Another Angle: Brighton & Hove Albion
clips of Jon Marks BBC 3CR commentary Goals: 1 2
RELIVE – Pereyra stars as Hornets down Seagulls
Pereyra at the double as Hornets make impressive start
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.
Brighton’s first goal from open play in over 10 hours of Premier League football was enough to earn a 1-0 victory against Watford at the Amex Stadium on Saturday.
Sleigh bells were jingling and nerves were jangling but Brighton clung on to earn three precious points. Their first win in eight games means they are now in mid-table, five points clear of the drop. It is a position that could quickly change and, once again, the narrow margin of victory did not allow for a sense of comfort to spread over the home supporters. But there were more than enough positives for fans and club alike to believe things are moving in the right direction.
Our last visit to Brighton was memorable for all the right reasons. After taking the lead in the first half, the game had been a bit of a slog, before Vydra’s injury time goal sent us all away happy. It having been the lunchtime game, we retired to a lovely pub and, after spending the preceding couple of hours in the garden anxiously checking phones, we interrupted a quiet afternoon by erupting in joy as last minute goals confirmed our promotion.
A miserable day on the South coast just before Christmas meant Watford succumbed to their fourth consecutive defeat.
It’s Christmas Eve and I’ve been up since 5:30am. Not because I’m wrapping presents, or applying the final touches to the decorations whilst listening to Christmas classics, or even being the stereotypical man and getting ready to do the final bit of Christmas shopping, but because I have to get something off my chest. 
Brighton claimed their first ever Premier League point despite failing to break down 10-man Watford at Vicarage Road.
Brighton picked up their first Premier League point with a 0-0 draw at Watford on Saturday – but will feel they should have taken all three against their 10-man hosts.
While a first ever Premier League point is not to be sniffed at Brighton will wonder how they did not tick off all the mini missions they need to convince themselves they mean business at the highest echelon of the English game. Three matches in and a goal still eludes them. A confidence-boosting win is still needed as soon as possible. It was not for want of trying, here, particularly when Watford’s numbers were depleted in the 24th minute after Miguel Britos was sent off when his dangerous, hotheaded challenge left Anthony Knockaert floored.
Miguel Britos was shown an early red card after his dangerous tackle on Anthony Knockaert but the visitors were unable to capitalise on their advantage
So. August Bank Holiday, then. End of the first bit of the season prior to the first international break, first chance to take stock. End of the transfer window approaches too, a transfer window during which we’ve been linked to well over 100 players and have revised the squad significantly.
Watford claimed a well deserved point against Brighton after Miguel Britos’ horror challenge had reduced them to 10-men at Vicarage Road.
Watford clinched promotion to the Premier League after they beat Brighton and other results went their way.
Middlesbrough slumped to a 4-3 defeat at Fulham and Norwich could only draw 1-1 at Rotherham, sealing Watford’s return to the top flight after an eight-year absence.
Watford’s lunchtime win on the south coast put them four points clear of the chasing pack thanks to Troy Deeney’s first-half goal and a stoppage time second from the substitute Matej Vydra.
Football is about waiting for moments that might never arrive, about playing them through in your imagination over and over, about being there to see if it happens…and then finding Matej Vydra taking what seems like an age to control the ball, threatening to let that moment slip away, and then sliding it calmly into the bottom corner before the whole world turns yellow and red and inside out and upside down.
report
report
report:A word for the new Community Stand, part-opened for the first time. Thank goodness. Thank the Pozzos. At long last after so many missed opportunities. ig might miss the Main Stand, but once you’ve said goodbye to something, you know, you want it to go, you want it to be replaced.
