Watford announced their return to the Premier League with a breathtaking 3-2 win over Aston Villa.

A sensational first half display saw new signing Emmanuel Dennis and winger Ismaila Sarr combining wonderfully, setting one another up for goals, as the Hornets left their visitors two down at the break and wondering how they would deal with their hosts in the second half.

However, a stunning goal from substitute Cucho Hernandez put the game to bed before John McGinn's consolation and a late Danny Ings spot kick added the slightest of blemishes to an otherwise perfect performance.

Before the match, head coach Xisco Munoz said he was still unsure of what his best starting XI was and that was reflected in his team sheet, with Craig Cathcart starting out of position at right back.

Out of a plethora of attacking choices, new signing Dennis got the nod in the centre of an attacking three, flanked by Sarr and Ken Sema.

Other new arrivals Peter Etebo and Juraj Kucka were also handed their first competitive starts as part of a central midfield trio with Tom Cleverley, who wore the captain’s armband.

Ashley Young made a return to Vicarage Road with the visitors, for whom club record signing Emiliano Buendia had shaken off an injury to make himself available, alongside fellow new arrival Ings.

Munoz himself could hardly have dreamt of a better start to life in the “best league in the world” as he describes it, in front of the returning supporters, with one of his new recruits opening the scoring after just ten minutes, although it was Sarr who had put in the leg work.

On more than one occasion, the winger had found space in behind Matt Targett out on the right and eventually he was able to cut back to Dennis in the centre. The Nigerian’s first effort was blocked by Ezri Konsa, but he swept the rebound underneath Emiliano Martinez to open the Hornets’ 2021/22 top-flight account.

While Dennis had fulfilled his expectation of scoring goals, another player making his Watford debut did what might have been expected of him after 23 minutes, with Kucka putting in a crunching tackle on McGinn. He picked up a yellow card for his efforts.

Meanwhile, the hosts continued to look promising in attack with Sarr’s dipping volley, following a delightful flick over the head of Marvellous Nakamba, forcing a save from Martinez, who also had to deny Dennis at his near post moments later.

The two attackers almost combined to good effect just shy of the half-hour mark when Sarr intercepted a pass in midfield and charged towards the Villa penalty area. His cross was begging to be put in, but Dennis was hanging back waiting for a pullback instead.

Ahead of the match there had been some suggestion that it could take a while for the new players in Watford’s ranks to adapt to their surroundings, but Dennis and Kucka both looked as if they had been playing at the Vic their whole careers during the first half and the pair linked up with a neat one-two on the edge of the Villa area. However, the striker’s layoff was guided into the stands by the Slovak.

Five minutes before the break, there was a rare foray forward from Villa, that ended with Nakamba slipping Ings in behind the Hornets’ defence, only for Chrisitan Kabasele’s well-timed recovery tackle to thwart the danger.

The Belgian then made his presence felt at the other end of the pitch, as he climbed highest to meet a Sema free kick, but could only head over the bar.

Nevertheless, Watford continued their dominance and were two up before the break.

Dennis broke from midfield with a swift counter-attack and slipped the ball out to Sarr on the right. Tyrone Mings did his best to block the shot, but could only loop the ball over his keeper and into the far corner of the net.

In a bid to halt Sarr’s progress down the wing, Villa boss Dean Smith replaced Targett at half time with Jacob Ramsey and shifted Young into the left back position.

The 20-year-old added some threat that had been notable in its absence from Villa throughout the first half and had good shots twice within the opening five minutes of the restart.

First his shot from a tight angle flashed across Daniel Bachmann’s goal and out for a corner. Then, from the resulting set piece, he lashed over the bar from the edge of the area after the initial delivery had been cleared.

McGinn then found room for a shot but fired wide from similar range to Ramsey, as Smith’s side looked to try and claw back the deficit both in the scoreline and in quality.

They were however still vulnerable to Watford’s pacey counter attacks and Dennis almost added his second of the match when he was found by Sarr out on the left. After driving into the box, he unleashed a shot on target, but this time Martinez was able to keep it out.

Villa’s efforts hadn’t amounted to anything significant by the hour mark and Smith introduced new signing Leon Bailey to add further attacking impetus.

However, it was the Hornets who created the next opening with Sema bursting away down the left on yet another counter-attack, as Buendia punched the turf in frustration at the other end of the field having had his attempt to get a shot away smothered by Kucka.

The Swede opted to cut back to Dennis instead of pulling the trigger himself, and Konsa was on hand to block the effort.

That was Dennis’ final involvement of the match as he was replaced soon after by Hernandez, who introduced himself to the Premier League in emphatic fashion.

The Colombian had said in a pre-match interview that he wanted to replicate the success of Sergio Aguero and if his first involvement in a Watford shirt is anything to go by, he could be more than capable of doing so.

After picking the ball up on the left-hand side of the pitch, he drove to the corner of the penalty area, cut away from Buendia and curled a magnificent effort beyond the reach of Martinez in off the far post to put the hosts firmly in the driving seat.

That feeling of security was soon cut short, as McGinn swept Bailey’s cross from the left into the top corner of Bachmann’s net with an equally impressive finish, reminding Munoz’s men that nothing can be taken for granted in this division.

Yet, the introduction of Dan Gosling and Troy Deeney allowed the home side to see the game out and demonstrated some mature decision making from Munoz, whose first encounter with a full Vicarage Road could not have been any more romantic had it been scripted.

A late free kick from Bailey whistled over Bachmann's bar and Deeney almost diverted a Hernandez through ball into the net in the game's closing stages, but by the time Ings has scored Villa's second from the spot inside six minutes of stoppage time, the celebrations had well and truly begun, with Munoz turning to the supporters and calling for them to ramp up the noise until the final whistle.

Xisco now needs to keep the party going on their trip to Brighton next weekend.