Watford were unable to build on their opening day victory as Brighton and Hove Albion saw them off comfortably 2-0 at the Amex Stadium.

Goals from Shane Duffy and Neal Maupay had put the Hornets in an awful position at half time and things never really looked like changing in the second, despite some attacking substitutions, with the visitors registering just one shot on target.

Given how well his side had played in their win over Aston Villa, Xisco Munoz was obviously reluctant to make too many changes to his starting XI. Only Juraj Kucka was left out, following his injury, with Imran Louza making his debut in his place.

While Watford got off to a flying start against Aston Villa the previous week, they couldn’t get to grips with Albion’s tempo in the early stages at the Amex and found themselves behind after just nine minutes of play.

William Troost-Ekong headed Solly March’s delivery from the left behind for a corner, but there was no one in a red Watford away shirt anywhere near Duffy as he shrugged off Adam Masina and leapt highest to guide Pascal Gross’s cross into Daniel Bachmann’s net, off the underside of the bar.

The visitors spent most of the first half fighting fires at the back, with Brighton repeatedly finding space to attack down Watford’s left, and were therefore unable to utilise their prize asset Ismaila Sarr out on the right, forcing the winger to drift further and further into the centre.

It was from there that he had the Hornets’ first shot on goal after the ball dropped kindly into his path from a challenge on Louza, but he fired over the top.

The rest of the half continued as it had begun, with the home side attacking the Hornets’ overly accommodating defence.

Thier hospitality reached new levels shortly before the half time break when Troost-Ekong’s pass out from the back was easily picked off by Yves Bissouma in front of Tom Cleverley. He fed Maupay, who had all the time in the world to pick his spot and rifle home the second of the evening.

Munoz tried to change the flow of the match with a half time substitution, bringing Cucho Hernandez off the bench in place of Louza, who had looked beyond his comfort zone during his time on the pitch.

Things initially looked better for Watford, who found a couple of openings within five minutes of the restart.

First Craig Cathcart curled a ball into the path of Emmanuel Dennis, but he had little support from his teammates and could only find Robert Sanchez with his attempted cross.

Then Masina’s searching ball from deep landed on the head of Sarr, who had strayed beyond the Seagulls’ back line, but there was no accuracy on the effort and it skewed wildly away.

Yet it was Graham Potter’s half time change that really should have impacted the game.

A charge through the middle from Alexis Mac Allister resulted in Gross again whipping the ball into the centre from the Hornets’ left-hand side and when Cathcart’s haphazard attempt at a clearance ended up at the feet of substitute Aaron Connolly, it seemed like the third goal was inevitable, but somehow, he blazed his shot over the bar.

Watford continued to defend leniently and again might have found themselves three down just moments after Connolly’s near miss when Leandro Trossard was given space to turn and shoot on the edge of the area, but he couldn’t guide his shot on target and the Hornets were let off again.

The match had reached the 63rd minute before the Hornets registered a shot on target, with Cleverley firing a low effort at goal after a neat bit of link-up play between Sarr and Ken Sema.

However the midfielder never really got hold of the ball and it was beaten away by Sanchez.

Soon after Watford did have the ball in the Brighton net, after Joshua King had replaced Cathcart in an attacking roll of the dice from Munoz.

However, Dennis failed to make sure he was onside as the new arrival slipped the ball into his path and it was clear to most inside the Amex that he had set off on his run far too early.

Hernandez was definitely onside moments later when he tried to force a change in the scoreline, flicking the ball up and volleying towards goal from the edge of the area, but there was no dip on the shot and it sailed over.

Chances came for both teams within the final ten minutes of the contest, as Bachmann first reacted well to deny Gross before Mac Allister’s chipped effort bounced along the goal line and away.

At the other end Troy Deeney, who had come on to replace Sema, got on the end of King’s cross from deep, but couldn’t guide the ball into the net with his header.

TEAM: Bachmann; Cathcart (King), Troost-Ekong, Kabasele, Masina; Etebo, Cleverley, Louza (Hernandez); Sarr, Sema (Deeney), Dennis
Unused subs: Foster, Ngakia, Rose, Fletcher, Sierralta, Baah