‘We cannot allow that to happen again’ - Marco Silva makes Everton pledge

Marco Silva has vowed that Everton will not have to wait so long for a win over a top six side after Sunday’s victory over Chelsea broke a duck stretching back more than two years.

January 2017 was the last time the Toffees overcame a member of the established top six, that 4-0 thrashing of Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City.

They have drawn seven and lost 18 since, an unacceptable record for a side that has ambitions of trying to muscle in on those elite clubs in the near future.

Those were sentiments echoed by Silva when speaking to reporters after the game, as he pledged to build on a much-needed victory - Everton’s first at Goodison Park for two months.

“To be honest with you, I didn’t know these numbers before the match but one of your colleagues asked me this.

“But the first thing I want to say to you is that this is something that cannot happen again because it is not a normal thing, for a club like us, not to be winning against a strong side.

“Of course, I am 100% sure all of the managers and players who were here before did their best to achieve that, like I am doing now, but for our quality as a club and how big we are as a club, we cannot allow that to happen again.

“It is up to us to work together for it to be more normal for us to beat these strong sides when we play against them.

“Of course, it is not an easy thing and it’s the first time we have achieved it this season but I am sure we can achieve it more times, even this season, because we have more opportunities in the weeks ahead.”

Whatever happens between now and the May, Everton’s campaign will be viewed as a relative disappointment after crashing out of both cups early and failing to get remotely close to the top six.

However, for Silva the next few weeks are crucial if he is to convince the fans - and most probably the board too - that he is the man to take the club forward.

Victories like Sunday will certainly help his cause and he acknowledged its significance after the game. He also praiseD the supporters and again stressed how important their backing is to the team’s success.

“It’s really important to me, but more important for our players because they have to believe in the quality they have because I don’t have doubts. It is really important for our fans so they can believe in them more.

”We had a difficult afternoon and they were behind us – they were the key again – and it is really important to them to have this good feeling and it is up to us to work more and more to give this again in two or three weeks when we play against another strong side at home.

“We have to make it difficult for all the teams that come here to play at Goodison Park . When you have the crowd behind you and when we play with this desire, we are to win. It is up to me to work more with them for us to achieve that.

“But, of course, it is important to me, and when you achieve that is is always important to the manager.

“But now it is done, they go to their national teams, and my job is to prepare them to beat West Ham.”