Soccer-Watford's Gray strikes to sink Everton, pile pressure on Silva

Substitute Andre Gray scored a second-half winner as Watford beat Marco Silva's Everton 1-0 in the Premier League on Saturday to heap the pressure on their former manager. Everton boss Silva's first visit to Vicarage Road since being sacked by Watford last January ended with the home fans singing that he would suffer a similar fate at the Merseyside club after a run of three defeats in a stuttering campaign.

Forward Gray, who came on for midfielder Ken Sema after the break, latched on to Will Hughes' cross from the right following a delicate layoff from Craig Cathcart to tap the ball into the net on 65 minutes. Stunned by the goal, Everton struggled to create clear chances in the second half of the scrappy contest as Watford held firm to secure the victory and move up to 37 points.

Watford had nearly gone ahead in the 11th minute after Troy Deeney chested a hopeful cross into the path of Etienne Capoue, whose rising volley from point blank range glanced off goalkeeper Jordan Pickford's head and over the crossbar. Watford goalkeeper Ben Foster saved Cenk Tosun's stinging shot from distance in the 34th minute before Gylfi Sigurdsson's lobbed effort came off the crossbar in the second half on a frustrating outing for the visitors. (Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Toby Davis)

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