Silva has last laugh as Everton escape against former club Watford

LIVERPOOL: Marco Silva had the last laugh against his former club Watford as Everton defender Lucas Digne’s last-gasp free-kick rescued a dramatic 2-2 draw at Goodison Park on Monday.

Everton manager Silva was facing Watford for the first time since his acrimonious departure from Vicarage Road in January.

The 41-year-old was sacked by Watford after less than a year in charge, with the club’s owners blaming Everton’s interest in the Portuguese coach for distracting him from his job.

Convinced he treated them disrespectfully by showing interest in Everton, the Watford fans who travelled to Goodison Park waved inflatable snakes and directed abusive chants at Silva. With just seconds to go, it seemed Silva would be bitten by his old employers.

Everton’s Richarlison, signed from Watford by Silva, put the hosts ahead in the first half.

Seamus Coleman’s own goal drew Watford level after the break and Abdoulaye Doucoure’s header put them in front before Everton midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson had a penalty saved by Ben Foster. But Digne came to Silva’s rescue in the sixth minute of stoppage-time to deny Watford the revenge they so badly wanted.

Insisting he didn’t care about silencing the Watford taunts, Silva said: “Of course not. I didn’t see anything. It’s not important to me.What I can control is my players.

“It’s a difficult match to talk about. We lost our focus completely for their goals.”

Eventually hired by Everton in May, Silva summed up the difficult nature of his Watford exit last week when he made it clear he was unsentimental about facing his old club.

Watford are still waiting for the Premier League to settle their complaint against Everton for the alleged illegal approach for Silva.

And the Silva feud threatened to spill onto the pitch after Watford captain Troy Deeney last week said he would “smash” Richarlison for leaving the Hornets.

Yet it was Richarlison who did the early damage as the Brazil forward put Everton ahead in the 15th minute with his eighth goal in 14 Premier League appearances – three more than he managed in 38 games for Watford last season.