Silva hails Richarlison, Coleman, best Everton performance of the season

While he was certainly displeased with how Everton went into the half drawing 1-1, Marco Silva was quite thrilled by how his side came out roaring in the second half and sealed the three points this afternoon.

Brighton & Hove Albion found themselves penned back under wave after wave of relentless Everton attack at times, and Silva only took his foot off the gas with a couple of minutes to play letting Yerry Mina make his Toffees debut.

Speaking after the game, Silva said -

“It was a pleasure to see how we played and how we won the game. Honestly, we really deserved the three points and, in my opinion, it was our best performance at home this season.

”We had a very good 30 minutes at the start of the first half, we started quick, played in our way with confidence and played it forward every time. From the sixth minute, we were created chances to score.

“The only thing I didn’t like was the corner when they scored to make it 1-1 because they didn’t have a chance to score and Jordan (Pickford) made just one save at the end of the match. We controlled the match with the ball, without the ball we did well as well, but in that moment, we have to do better.

”It is something we worked on during the week as well but I think we deserve the three points. A good performance, a very good second half again, we had three goals but we created more chances to score as well.”

Richarlison got the first and third goals of the game, and Silva was happy to see goals from the striker.

“When a striker scores twice in a game, it is always a big contribution. It is important, not just for him, but for all of our strikers and forwards, that they can score, but it is also important to have confidence.

”The most important thing for me is that he is ready to play in the three positions in our attacking line. I know he knows as well how important he is for us to play out wide or to play inside.

”It is about my decision and our strategy in the match and the most important thing for me is that he’s doing well and our other three strikers are pushing him too. They are fighting to play in our squad and that is the most important too.

“It was our best performance of the season.”

Just fifteen minutes in it looked like Richarlison would not be able to finish the game after rolling his ankle chasing a ball down the sideline.

“It shows you his resilience. He played the second half with pain in his feet. Possibly tomorrow it will be worse.

“Richarlison performed well. It is important not just for him but our strikers when they can score.

“It was a very good moment for the first goal, the offensive transition. The second goal he has this capacity to press high and put pressure on the centre-backs. His quality was high.”

Captain for the day Seamus Coleman got the winning goal, his first for the Blues since January 2017, ten months of which he spent rehabilitating from a horrific double leg break on international duty.

His celebration particularly was one of mixed emotions, especially considering some of the flak he’s taken for his recent performances.

“Coleman performed better. His physical condition is growing. His confidence is growing.

“It was an important moment for him, important moment for us as a team.”