Everton entertained Watford at Goodison Park yesterday night hoping to return to winning ways in the Premier League. The Toffees started the contest brightly and made an early breakthrough in the 15th minute through Richarlison’s powerful finish from close range. The Hornets threatened on the counter but could not manage to come up with a response in the first half.
Javi Gracia’s side slowly grew in confidence after the half-time break and found the equaliser when Seamus Coleman scored an own goal in the 63rd minute. The visitors completed the turnaround just two minutes later through Abdoulaye Doucoure’s powerful header. However, Everton refused to give up and found the equaliser when Lucas Digne scored with a brilliant freekick in the dying embers of the game to give the home team a point from this encounter. The match finished 2-2 with both sides sharing the spoils.
Let’s take a look at how each Everton player performed during the match against the Hornets.
GK: Jordan Pickford – 6/10
The English keeper couldn’t do much about either of Watford’s goals on the night. He did his job when called into action but conceded two goals on the night which would disappoint him.
RB: Seamus Coleman – 5/10
He failed to deal with the threat of José Holebas and Roberto Pereyra in the second half and scored an unfortunate own goal which let Watford back into the game.
CB: Michael Keane – 5/10
The Everton center-back started the match well but found it hard to cope with Troy Deeney’s aerial prowess in the second half.
CB: Yerry Mina – 6/10
The Colombian was arguably Marco Silva’s best defender on the pitch. He made some good clearances and was an aerial threat at both ends of the pitch.
LB: Lucas Digne – 9/10
The French full-back was a fantastic outlet for the Toffees down the left flank and delivered some dangerous balls into the Watford box. He stepped up to curl in a brilliant freekick in injury-time to salvage a point for Everton.
CM: André Gomes – 6.5/10
He was always looking to be inventive in midfield and managed to break away and find Richarlison in the lead up to Everton’s opening goal.
CM: Idrissa Gueye – 6/10
He worked his socks off in midfield but was often outnumbered by the Hornets midfielders.
RM: Theo Walcott – 7/10
The English speedster was a real threat in the opposition half, so it was surprising to see Marco Silva replace him in the 66th minute when the Toffees were clearly in need of a goal.
CAM: Gylfi Sigurdsson – 4/10
The Icelandic international squandered some great opportunities to score which was summed up by his penalty miss in the second half. He would be hoping for better days in an Everton shirt.
LM: Bernard – 6.5/10
The Brazilian showed some neat touches in and around the Watford penalty area and linked up well with Digne near the left touchline to cause a lot of problems for the Watford defenders.
ST: Richarlison – 7/10
The Brazilian talent took his chance well in the first half to give his team the lead. He worked hard for the Toffees up top but his effect on the game faded in the second half.
Substitutes:
RM: Ademola Lookman – 5/10
The Everton youngster failed to create anything meaningful going forward.
ST: Dominic Calvert-Lewin – 5/10
He provided some fresh legs inside the Watford penalty area but was not a goal-threat.
ST: Cenk Tosun – 5/10
The Turkish forward failed to make an impact after coming off the bench.
