NETS HITMAN ANDRE STRIKES TO PUT OLD BOSS SILVA IN STICKY SITUATION
ANDRE GRAY piled more misery on his old boss Marco Silva with the goal that extended Everton’s dreadful run.
This defeat made it four in five Premier League matches for the team Silva finally joined following his acrimonious departure from Watford.
And with an FA Cup loss to Millwall last month added to the mix, the Portuguese and his men really are in a rut.
They were poor for large periods of this game, especially in the first half. And while they were twice denied by the woodwork and arguably deserved a point, they certainly did not deserve anything more.
To be fair, Watford weren’t any better in those first 45 minutes – a period of football those who saw it will want to forget as quickly as possible.
But they didn’t waste the one good chance that came their way after the interval and Gray, a half-time substitute, struck his fifth goal of the season to give them a victory they so desperately wanted against their ex-manager. Javi Gracia can take much of the credit for changing the Hornets’ system, although the goal owed so much to the delicious reverse pass Craig Cathcart played to Will Hughes who then provided the cross for Gray. Everton had enough chances to win the game with Gylfi Sigurdsson and Lucas Digne hitting the bar. Dominic Calvert-Lewin also missed a good headed chance late on. And to compound the visitors’ misery Kurt Zouma was sent off after the final whistle – without realising he had been – for two bookings that came within 15 seconds of each other.
Silva’s men, like their manager, were furious because they felt Watford were given a corner in the lead-up to their goal that should have been a goal-kick.
He said: “In the moment they scored the goal the corner was not a corner.
“The ball passed half-a-metre away from Jordan Pickford and no one touched the ball.
“I spoke with Kurt at the end of the match and he said he received one yellow card and after that the referee gave him the second one.
“Of course, it’s a moment to be calm but sometimes it’s not easy and of course in that moment even the referee has to understand something, because many mistakes were coming against our team. It’s not easy sometimes to understand everything and it’s clear to me they can’t understand that the referee and his assistant did not see it was not a corner in that moment.
“He was saying what all the other players were saying, that it wasn’t a corner. The referee and assistant have to see that. If all the players can see it’s impossible that the referee and his assistant can’t see.”
Silva, unsurprisingly, copped some serious flak from the locals and it started well before kick-off with a few choice tunes from the Vicarage Road DJ.
Al Wilson’s 1969 hit ‘The Snake’ and Kelly Clarkson’s ‘Since You’ve Been Gone’ were two of the records belted out over the public address system pre-match.
Silva hoped his side would do all their talking on the pitch but instead they were meek and lacking in confidence and they paid the price.
Watford had a great chance early on when Etienne Capoue found himself one-on-one with Pickford but the Everton keeper’s bravery kept him out, the ball hitting him on the face and deflecting over.
Headers from Michael Keane and then Zouma were easy for Ben Foster but he had to make a good save to deny Cenk Tosun’s snapshot from the edge of the box.
At the other end, former Everton winger Gerard Deulofeu ought to have hit the target on the stroke of half-time but he dwelt too long on his effort and allowed Digne time to make a good block. Gracia said: “I’m very happy to get three points, and after seeing all our supporters enjoy the game and the result, it is something amazing for us.”
Gray said: “With the former manager here there was extra spice in the game.
“In the second half we had that edge. “We didn’t play that well but we got over the line.”