WATFORD 3 EVERTON 2

BY AYODELE ODUMADE AT VICARAGE ROAD

 An excellent second half performance saw Watford get back to winning ways against an Everton side that had lofty ambitions of moving closer to the pack at the top of the league but continued on their downward spiral. However it is Hornets who find themselves in 7^th place. Just after the quarter of an hour mark, Gareth Barry played a pass over the top, which fell perfectly to Romelu Lukaku in the Watford area and he calmly slotted the ball past Heurelho Gomes to give Everton the lead.  That was Lukaku’s 8^th league goal in 14 appearances this season for the Toffees.  Watford almost hit back immediately when Troy Deeney laid a back heel into the path of Stefano Okaka but his shot was too weak to trouble Maarten Stekenlenburg.

 Initially Watford struggled to make an impression on Everton as too many passes went astray.  The main culprit was Nordin Amrabat who saw a lot of the ball but did not use it wisely and the crowd got on his back. 

Watford’s luck changed though in the 36^th minute when Deeney won a long ball with a header and passed it to Okaka who played it to Amrabat out wide on the right. Okaka carried on into the box and received a return ball in the Watford area from Amrabat with his back to goal but back heeled the ball into the net to bring the Hornets level. That was Okaka’s first goal for Watford.

Goals change games and all of a sudden Watford were in the ascendancy as they began to create more chances. The game remained level at the break.

Just before the hour mark Watford were awarded a free kick on the left side of Everton’s area which was swung in by Jose Holebas and met by a Sebastian Prodl header, which flashed past Stekelenburg to give Watford the lead.  Ronald Koeman reacted by bringing on Ross Barkley for Idrissa Gueye.

A few minutes later Okaka got on the end of a corner from Jose Holebas and headed the ball past Stekelenburg to double Watford’s lead and deepen the despair in an Everton side, which was lacking confidence after a bright start.

With 8 minutes of the game left Gerard Deulefeu crossed from the right and Lukaku got the faintest of touches but the ball grazed the far post and went out of play. That was the closest Everton came to scoring in the second half up to that point. 

 Moments after coming on as a substitute, Aaron Lennon who was playing on the left wing picked out Lukaku with a cross, which he planted in the bottom corner to reduce the deficit to 3-2 and set up a grandstand finish.  A minute later Gomes made a howler of what should have been a straight forward save but his defence bailed him out as the ball was cleared.

There were four added minutes but Watford managed to see out the game. On the balance of play the Hornets fully deserved the three points as they played to their strengths and took their chances from set pieces   Everton would rue a missed opportunity to move closer to the pack at the top as they simply fell away like autumn leaves in the second half.  Everton have now won just one of their last ten league games.

A disappointed Koeman said: “ Sometimes it is difficult to understand what happened. We scored a good goal and it is really frustrating why we lost control of the game.  One nil up should give everyone an injection of confidence. We only conceded two crosses and it was 2-1 and 3-1. Why are we reactive instead of being proactive? That is our problem at the moment.”

A delighted Walter Mazzarri said: “I am very proud and very happy as well. I want to dedicate this win to all the fans that always support us and to our fan Ray Batchelor who passed away last week.  I am happy with my players’ performance especially against a team like Everton when you start 0-1 down.  Okaka is a very important player for us. He was a great talent with Roma.  He is perfect for the premier league. He does not only help himself but also his team mates. ”