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Despite all the optimism heading into the brand-new Championship season, Southampton lost on the opening day in the Championship on their travels to Watford. The Saints ended up losing the game due to their nonchalant performance in the first half, as the energetic Hornets exploited some unusually poor defending from the home side, to finish the game as deserved 2-1 winners. Iker Bravo would get off the mark on his Watford debut, as he confidently slotted home an opportunity that was handed to him on a plate by a horribly mistimed clearance from Jack Stephens. Alongside Bravo packing his shooting boots for this showdown, Alessio Dionisi's hosts had just the right amount of bite in their game to keep a level head, while getting stuck into challenges, with Hector Kyprianou sticking out in midfield with eight tackles and duels won. On the contrary, far too many Saints away shirts receded into their shell during the slim away day defeat, leaving Tonda Eckert with a lot to think about, ahead of Southampton's home game against Stoke City next weekend. The main Saints underperformers vs Watford No one in the brightly coloured Saints away top covered themselves in much glory during the first half. Indeed, Stephens - away from giving the ball away for the Bravo's opener - looked leggy, with only a weak two duels won come the end of the sobering 90 minutes. James Bree would also only win two duels, as he experienced a tough afternoon coming up against the likes of the pacey Othmane Maamma for the hosts. While Maamma was constantly looking for openings down the right channel, Lewis Dobbin faded in and out of the contest way too much on the left wing for the below-par away team, with only one shot registered at the Watford goal. Before being hauled off by Eckert on the 57th minute, he also only completed one out of his six dribble attempts, with Dobbin cutting a frustrated figure as he trudged off, having put in a wretched debut performance in the league for his new employers. Safe to say, he's going to have to buck up his ideas in games to come to prove he's a £9m-calibre attacker. Thankfully, there is so much more of the season ahead for Southampton to show what they're truly capable of when firing on all cylinders. While the away supporters would have exited Vicarage Road severely down in the dumps, the home faithful would have been overjoyed with the efforts of their beloved team, particularly this Hornets youngster who ran Eckert and Co. ragged all match. Southampton just couldn't handle this youngster At the end of the day, the rampant Watford performance in the first half ended up handing Dionisi a first Championship win in charge of the basket case club. Eckert's men just couldn't handle Amin Nabizada whatsoever as the 19-year-old youngster - who played just three times all of last season for Watford - introduced himself to the second tier this campaign in style. He was relentless throughout the breathless first 45 minutes, as his wonderful solo goal all came about from him continuing to drive unashamedly forward, while the Southampton shirts near to him did very little to close him down. In the end, he placed a solo effort coolly past Daniel Peretz, with Watford teammate Mattie Pollock hailing that the gung-ho number 21 has a "very bright" future at Vicarage Road at the full-time whistle. While Nabizada was constantly looking to drive forward and unnerve the away side, the previously mentioned Dobbin was far too pedestrian with his weak forays forward. Hopefully, Southampton can play with the same energy the Hornets showed in spades when Stoke travel to St. Mary's, with this opening defeat then swiftly brushed under the carpet with a win back on home soil. For Nabizada, it will be a case of more of the same when Watford play Wrexham in their next second tier showdown, as an unexpected result occurred on the opening day.