Pascal Gross gives Brighton vital win as struggling Watford lose fourth in a row

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.

Pascal Gross scored the crucial goal, his fourth in the Premier League this season. The German has been invaluable to the side since arriving from Ingolstadt in the summer and he deserved the luck when his effort from the edge of the box eluded Heurelho Gomes at his right-hand post.

“There a little bit of fortune with the goal, but what you’ve got to do is get the strike on target,” Hughton said. “Pascal strikes a strong, hard ball with both feet and arguably could score more goals. We’re always telling him to get more shots on target. If you don’t take those opportunities, then you don’t put yourself in the position to score.”

Those remarks are typical of Hughton’s pragmatic approach, but there were signs that Brighton are starting to build a better attacking platform on their sturdy defensive foundation. Anthony Knockaert was the talismanic figure of last season and interacted well with the intelligent Gross.

The home side should really have been out of sight by the half-hour with Tomer Hemed, Davy Pröpper and Connor Goldson spurning decent opportunities. For the defender Goldson it was a special day, the 25-year-old making his Premier League debut nine months after he underwent heart surgery.

“We got the ball in the offensive third a lot for a top-class match,” Hughton said. “The only frustration was with the final ball or the end product.”

Hughton defended his striker Hemed but the Israeli should have had a hat-trick, missing from six yards out when presented with a chance to wrap the game up in the 73rd minute. A new striker surely remains a priority for Brighton in January, but Hughton would only say that the winter window is “very difficult”.

For Watford, this was a fifth defeat in six games. It was also a lacklustre performance and their best scoring opportunity came in a last-minute scramble; Stefano Okaka, brought on as a substitute for Andre Gray, only able to poke wide after the Brighton goalkeeper, Mat Ryan, dropped a cross at his feet.

The Watford manager, Marco Silva, seemed in no mood to panic however, finding consolation in the same fine margins that had frustrated Hughton. He also denied that his team’s downturn in form had anything to do with the aborted attempts by Everton last month to make him their manager.

“It doesn’t make sense this comparison,” he said. “Nothing has changed in the work in the club. I stay to find solutions. We had this one game to play with three players banned, five or six injured.

“We have big problems with the starting XI and a lot of games in a row. But it’s not an excuse. Our obligation as a team is to keep together, only when you are all together can you achieve good results.”