Silva urges Everton squad to move on quickly

Everton boss Marco Silva has urged his players to move on from the latest VAR controversy at Brighton and focus on Tuesday’s EFL Cup fourth-round tie. Having come from 1-0 behind to lead 2-1 at Brighton on Saturday, Everton were involved in a controversial moment that has been discussed at length since as they became the first Premier League club to concede a penalty awarded by VAR.
England international Michael Keane was adjudged to have trodden on the foot of Seagulls forward Aaron Connolly in the box, although the decision to give the spot-kick seemed harsh as both players had their eyes on the ball and there was no intention to foul.
To make matters worse for the Toffees, they ended up losing the game at the AMEX Stadium 3-2 after left-back Lucas Digne put into his own net late on in the match, a cruel end to what was a fantastic spectacle on the south coast.
Everton can rightly feel hard done by the penalty decision but Silva, who is still under pressure to keep his job, has told his players to forget about the defeat and focus on Tuesday’s EFL Cup fourth-round tie against Watford at Goodison Park. “The next game is a different competition and if we have a goal, an ambition to go until the end, to the final, we have to win,” he said. “It is our obligation (to lift the players), we have to. Of course, the mood is really low. It is difficult for a football team when we felt we did a big effort, we did everything that we should do. “For them (the players), it is really difficult to understand why it happened against us but you have to respect the decision, you have to keep going.”
Both Everton and Watford are desperate for a victory on Tuesday to life the mood in their squads, with the Toffees losing three of their last four matches while the rock-bottom Hornets are still searching for their first Premier League win of the campaign.