Silva has ‘last laugh’ as Everton escape against ex-club Watford

Richarlison strikes

LIVERPOOL, Dec 11, (AFP): Marco Silva had the last laugh against his former club Watford as Everton defender Lucas Digne’s last-gasp freekick rescued a dramatic 2-2 draw at Goodison Park.

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,

“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.

Watford were left frustrated by the goal as they appealed in vain for offside against Theo Walcott during a move that ended with Andre Gomes crossing for Richarlison to stroke a cool finish past Ben Foster.

Some players opt not to celebrate when they score against their former teams.

But in keeping with the fractious mood, Richarlison, who had been targeted by some crunching Watford tackles, had no qualms about sprinting away in jubilation.

Roberto Pereyra squandered a good chance to equalize when the Watford forward headed wide from Ken Sema’s cross.

Pereyra curled a free-kick just wide and Deeney saw his strike saved by Jordan Pickford after the interval.