Watford 1-1 Brighton & Hove Albion

Daniel Tozser's free kick gave Watford a 53rd-minute lead

Watford moved up to second in the Championship despite having to settle for a 1-1 draw at home to Brighton.

Daniel Tozser's free-kick looked to have secured a fifth win in six home league games, but Watford were denied by Lewis Dunk's header from a corner.

Dunk and fellow Brighton striker Chris O'Grady had put earlier headers wide.

Matej Vydra missed the chance to win the game for Watford late on when his first-time left-footed strike was saved by Brighton goalkeeper David Stockdale.

Chances were few and far between in the opening 30 minutes, but O'Grady warmed Watford goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes's gloves with a low strike from the left side of the area early on and later saw another effort deflected.

Vydra missed Watford's best chance of the first half when he shot Juan Carlos Paredes's through ball over the crossbar.

But the breakthrough came eight minutes into the second half as Tozser's free-kick from 25 yards found the back of the net as the Brighton wall parted.

Brighton manager Sami Hyypia brought on Kazenga LuaLua and Danny Holla in a bid to get back in the game and LuaLua's corner led to the eventual equaliser.

Dunk got free at the near post to plant a header beyond Gomes in the 77th minute.

Watford have now picked up four points from Billy McKinlay's two games in charge since he became manager on Monday, while Brighton remain 19th.

Watford manager Billy McKinlay:

"From our point of view, up to the goal we'd limited them to very little. You could argue we never created as much as we would have liked, certainly in the first half, but I felt we were in good control of the game at the time.

"I felt the shape of the team was good, the back four were outstanding and the effort was terrific.

"Obviously after the goal they've had one or two half-chances they might have felt disappointed they didn't take, but I was really pleased with our performance for a number of reasons."

Brighton manager Sami Hyypia:

"I need to accept a point, even if I don't want to. We played much better in the second half and we had the chances to win the game.

"It's not good to concede that kind of goal, it goes through the wall and you are chasing the game.

"We showed reaction, we had the urgency in the second half to play well and play better than in the first half and create enough chances that we could have won the game."