Gracia delighted with Watford as Pereyra steals the show

Javi Gracia challenged his Watford players to build on a promising start after they opened the new Premier League season with a thoroughly deserved 2-0 victory over Brighton & Hove Albion.

Roberto Pereyra scored both goals for the hosts at Vicarage Road on Saturday, including a stunning volley that opened the scoring 10 minutes before the half-time interval.

The former Juventus midfielder curled home a second after the break as Watford ran out comfortable winners against a Brighton side that failed to muster an attempt on target.

“I’m very happy because we got a good result, but the way we did it was better,” Gracia told Sky Sports.

“We dominated the game and created many chances to score, while Brighton didn’t really have a shot on target.

“It’s always important to start winning. But every game is different, you need to do your best. This is important for us, the club and the supporters, but we have to now focus on the next game.”

| Javi Gracia on the importance of starting the season with a win.#WATBHA #watfordfc pic.twitter.com/ff0t0yD1RT

— Watford Football Club (@WatfordFC) August 11, 2018

While Gracia hopes three early points will be a springboard to further success, opposite number Chris Hughton was at a loss to understand his side’s below-par display.

Brighton barely threatened Ben Foster’s goal and are now without a win in their last 14 Premier League away games.

“I thought we were second best in most departments. We had a good period for about 25 minutes before the end of the game, but we needed to produce quality in the good areas we got into,” Hughton told the club’s website.

“We were not able to produce that quality and Watford certainly deserved their victory. We’ve got a bit of work to do.

“Our preparation was probably the exact same as Watford’s. We had a good week leading into the game, but we probably didn’t score the amount of goals we would have liked in pre-season.

“As regards the players being up to speed, there are no excuses with lads coming in late, because generally the team that played, apart from Bernardo, was the team from last season.”

To make matters worse for Brighton, they saw defender Bruno forced off in the first half with a hamstring injury.