Watford 1-0 Everton

Troy Deeney's last seven Premier League goals have come at home

Troy Deeney's fine late finish lit up a dismal afternoon at Vicarage Road and gave Watford a win that moved them further clear of the Premier League relegation zone.

Captain Deeney smashed a shot into the roof of the net - his first goal from open play all season - to help the Hornets crawl six points above the bottom three.

It was the only moment of quality in an otherwise dreadful match as Everton offered next to nothing.

They have won once away from home in the Premier League under Sam Allardyce and are a point above the Hornets.

In fact, Everton have now won just one of their last 22 Premier League away games and have not kept a clean sheet since Boxing Day.

Their best chance came in stoppage time when goalkeeper Jordan Pickford went up for a corner and caused some chaos.

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Everton's woes continue

Former Watford manager Marco Silva was in the frame for the Everton job when these two sides last met back in November, but much has changed in a short space of time.

Silva has gone, but he didn't move to Goodison Park - instead, Everton brought in Allardyce to replace Ronald Koeman and steady the ship.

Wayne Rooney lost possession 17 times in midfield

Has he improved the club's fortunes?

After picking up 10 points in his first four Premier League games as Everton boss, Allardyce has seen his side accrue just nine in the last 10.

The former England manager spoke of the positives of a warm-weather training camp in Dubai this week, but there was no sign of improvement as Everton mustered one tame Gylfi Sigurdsson shot on goal before Pickford's late intervention.

The Toffees are ninth in the table but just seven points above the bottom three.

"They had somebody who could finish, and we didn't," said Allardyce after the game. "It had 0-0 written all over it."

'It was a dire game'

Watford went for Javi Gracia to replace Silva, and the former Malaga manager deserves credit for making changes that swung the game in his favour.

Kiko Femenia and Stefano Okaka came off the bench and added a touch of spark, with Femenia drawing a good save from Pickford after the England keeper's poor clearance, and Okaka then teeing up the winner.

Everton's malaise was evident in the build-up, though, as Wayne Rooney let the ball bounce, waiting for a defender to come and clear, before Okaka took charge and found Deeney to smash into the roof of the net.

"It was two teams desperate not to to lose, with the way the table is," said Deeney.

"We don't want to lose a home game and Everton want to keep a gap from the bottom.

"I have to say our fans were fantastic. It was a dire game, but they stuck with us and deserve it."

'A team with no soul'

Your reaction on #bbcfootball:

Dave Edwards: Everton have really embraced Big Sam's footballing ideals - they're boring, less than the sum of their parts and play with an ambition to minimise damage.

John Kirwan: Big Sam should leave Everton and never manage again, his tactics are older than he is.

Steve Much: Everton are a team with no soul under Allardyce - he has got to go and quickly.

George Powell: We're not even second or third to the loose balls, let alone first. Another abject away day for Everton.

Man of the match - Abdoulaye Doucoure (Watford)

In a game lacking much action, the midfielder played more passes than anyone else (72) and won the ball back 14 times

What's next?

Watford play bottom of the league West Brom at home next Saturday, 3 March (15:00 GMT), while Everton travel to Burnley for the lunchtime kick-off (12:30 GMT).