Everton 2-2 Watford: Lucas Digne's late free-kick rescues point for hosts
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Lucas Digne's first goal in Everton colours rescued a late point for the hosts.
Lucas Digne's injury-time free-kick earned Everton a point and denied Watford what would have been a sweet victory over former manager Marco Silva.
Silva was sacked by Watford last season after an approach by Everton earlier in the campaign and the two clubs are still in dispute over the Portuguese boss.
And Watford were on the brink of a deserved three points until France full-back Digne stepped up to send a perfect free-kick beyond Watford goalkeeper Ben Foster with only seconds left.
Everton received the perfect start when another former Watford man, Richarlison, gave them an early lead - although the goal had a large slice of good fortune as Theo Walcott should have been given offside in the build-up.
Watford were a threat all night and they capped a fine start to the second half with a 63rd-minute leveller when Roberto Pereyra's shot hit the post and rebounded in off Seamus Coleman.
They struck again two minutes later when the outstanding Abdoulaye Doucoure rose above Coleman at the far post to beat Jordan Pickford.
Everton were flat throughout, their display summed up when they were awarded a penalty moments after Doucoure's goal when Christian Kabasele fouled Yerry Mina, only for Foster to save Gylfi Sigurdsson's tame penalty.
Watford were holding on in relative comfort during six minutes of injury time until Digne's crucial last-ditch intervention.
Watford so close to sweet victory
Late equaliser difficult to accept - Gracia
The sight of Watford players slumped on the turf as referee Kevin Friend blew the final whistle summed up the scale of their disappointment.
This game was played out against the backdrop of Silva's eventual departure from Vicarage Road last season, which came after Watford warned off Everton in the strongest terms, after they had made an approach for the man who is now in charge at Goodison Park.
Watford's travelling fans made their displeasure known throughout with Silva the target for some colourful abuse.
And their mood not improved when former striker Richarlison thumped a 15th-minute finish past Foster even though Walcott was clearly offside before Andre Gomes delivered the key pass.
"I told him [Richarlison] at the end it was the first goal I see because last season he didn't score one goal for me [at Watford] but then I wished him the best," Gracia said.
"I prefer not to say anything about the referees. If VAR was ready today the result would have been different."
The response of his side though said much about their character as they were a constant threat against a lack-lustre Everton.
It was no surprise when they equalised and they looked to be defending their lead with few alarms, Sigurdsson's penalty and a few scrambles apart, before Digne's fine free-kick.
Watford look well organised under Gracia and Troy Deeney's physical approach, as well as their ability to be first to so many second balls, took them to within seconds of a win few would have begrudged them.
Late show cannot disguise Everton's disappointment
Everton lost focus in second half - Silva
Everton won plaudits for the manner of their approach and performance after they lost to Divock Origi's 96th-minute winner in the Merseyside derby at Liverpool - but they have since delivered two poor performances at Goodison Park.
Silva's side, who would have gone sixth with victory, laboured throughout and were somewhat fortunate to be rescued by Digne at the death.
It was a second successive draw after deadlock against Newcastle United here, which leaves Everton with two points from matches from which they might have expected a maximum return.
Silva's side are currently too reliant on Richarlison for goals and they failed to capitalise on his early strike, relinquishing the initiative too easily to a Watford side only too happy to accept the invitation.
"We lost our focus completely [for Watford's goals]," Silva said. "Those two moments were not too special.
"We are not happy with the result. When you start like we start and achieve just one point, of course we are unhappy. Our goal for the match is completely different from the result."
Walcott remains a frustrating figure, too often failing to provide end product and now looks low on confidence, while the likes of Cenk Tosun and Dominic Calvert-Lewin have not proved to be reliable goalscorers to augment the excellent Richarlison.
In the end they were happy to grab at the lifeline offered by Digne's late intervention, but if they are to build on the atmosphere and optimism that has accompanied them for much of this season, they have to perform better than this.
Man of the match - Abdoulaye Doucoure (Watford)
Doucoure was at the heart of Watford's best work, touching the ball most of any visiting player (69) and scoring for his second consecutive match
Watford's woe at Goodison endures - the stats
13 of the past 14 goals scored in Premier League clashes between Everton and Watford have come in the second half.
Watford remain winless in all 13 of their league trips to Goodison Park against Everton (W0 D2 L11).
Only Burnley (nine) have conceded more Premier League goals in the 90th minute or later since the start of 2017-18 than Watford (eight - level with Southampton and West Ham).
There were just two minutes and 10 seconds between Watford's two goals in this game.
At 19 years and 22 days, Domingos Quina is the second-youngest player to start a Premier League game for Watford after Al Bangura in December 2006 v Reading (18y 319d).
Everton's Richarlison is the fourth different player to both score a Premier League goal both for and against Watford, after Ashley Young, Heidar Helguson and Daryl Janmaat.
Everton full-back Seamus Coleman has scored two own goals in his past three Premier League appearances against Watford.
Everton playmaker Gylfi Sigurdsson has failed to convert two of his past three Premier League penalties as an Everton player, after scoring each of the six before that whilst at Swansea City.
Lucas Digne's equaliser for Everton was the second-latest goal in the Premier League this season at 95:08, behind only Ross Barkley's strike for Chelsea against Manchester United in October (95:27).
What's next?
Everton travel to Manchester City in their next Premier League outing on Saturday, 15 December (12:30 GMT), while Watford host Cardiff on the same day (15:00 GMT).