Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
BOSS HAS ALL OF US ON HIS SIDE BUT NONE OF THE LUCK
Holgate backs under-fire Silva as own goal and a VAR penalty wreck the Everton revival
MASON HOLGATE insists Everton boss Marco Silva has the backing of his players, even though many supporters want to hang him out to dry.
Everton were 16 minutes away from their first win on the road since March when super-sub Dominic Calvertlewin scored with virtually his first touch.
But a highly-controversial VAR penalty call, coupled with Lucas Digne’s stoppage-time own-goal, saw Silva’s men instead snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
The Toffees seemed to have turned a corner in their previous game by beating West Ham, ending a four-match losing run in the league.
But Holgate said: “We are 100 per cent behind the manager and it shows with the last two performances we have put in.
“Last week, we were all unbelievable, and this week we were doing really well, until a decision that completely threw the game on its head.”
Brighton took a 15th-minute lead, through a free-kick thunderbolt from Pascal Gross (below), only for Everton to hit back five minutes later, when Richarlison’s header was helped into the net by Adam Webster.
Calvert-lewin’s neat finish looked to have won it for the visitors, before
VAR decided Aaron Connolly had been caught by
Michael Keane, and Neal Maupay tucked away the spot-kick.
Even Everton’s hopes of a first point away from Goodison Park since the first day of the season were dashed when Digne turned substitute Leandro Trossard’s cross into his own net.
It was not supposed to be this way. After spending big in the summer, Silva’s side expected to be challenging for the top six, not looking nervously over their shoulders towards the relegation places.
Holgate, making his first Premier League start since September 2018, added: “We have not been happy with our results, but the one against
West Ham lifted spirits. The VAR was a huge turning point in this game and, when luck is against you, things like that happen.
“But we will keep going, we will get together again and lift ourselves, because it is a quick turnaround until Tuesday and Watford in the EFL Cup. “We know we have got to be picking up more points away from home, but we also need to be picking up more points in general, home and away. “If you come away in this league, and concede three goals, you are more than likely not going to pick up three points, and we could have been a bit stronger.
“Our poor away form is not something that is on our minds. But we know it has got to be better.
“We have just got to keep focusing and go again.”