EPL: Watford 2-1 Newcastle

Will Hughes (left) and Andre Gray celebrate Watford's second goal against Newcastle

Two first-half goals confirmed Watford's Premier League status and gave them their first win since early March as they saw off Newcastle 2-1 on Saturday in the Premier League.

Hosts Watford took the lead after just three minutes as Roberto Pereyra simply finished off a move involving Andre Gray, Troy Deeney and Abdoulaye Doucoure, and it was 2-0 on 28 minutes as Gray nodded home at the far post from Pereyra's cross.

Deeney saw a late first-half penalty saved by Martin Dubravka, before Ayoze Perez halved the deficit 10 minutes after the break with a fine far-post finish with the outside of his boot.

 

Watford were quickest out of the stops and took the lead through Pereyra's finish from 10 yards, slotting home at the near post after Paul Dummett have failed to clear the ball in the box, allowing Doucoure to feed the Argentine to score.

It should have been 2-0 on seven minutes as Pereyra and then Deeney saw close-range efforts blocked by Dubravka, and the Newcastle goalkeeper was again at his best to deny Gray's effort from an angle inside the box.

Gray got his goal a minute later, however, heading into the empty net at the far post as Pereyra found a yard to cross from the left, over the stretch of Dubravka.

 

Roger East handed Watford a penalty on 39 minutes after Dummett's clumsy slide on Gray, but Dubravka guessed correctly to his right to save Deeney's spot kick, and then got up well to block the rebound.

Newcastle battled superbly in the second half and scored with their first shot on target through Perez, brilliantly turning the ball home on the stretch with the outside of his boot from Javier Manquillo's right-wing cross.

Adrian Mariappa nearly turned into his own net midway through the second half, and Perez hit the outside of the post with a fine flick from a corner, but Watford held on to make sure they'll be playing Premier League football for a fourth straight season.