Everton 2-5 Watford: player ratings, man of the match, heroes and villains

Everton were left shellshocked as they fell to a sobering 5-2 loss to Watford at Goodison Park.

The Blues were on track for all three points on two occasions but capitulated.

Tom Davies opened the scoring for the home side after just three minutes before Everton old-boy Josh King equalised.

Richarlison came off the bench to restore the Toffees’ lead on 63 minutes before the Toffees crumbled.

Juraj Kucka hit back for the Hornets before King completed his hat-trick with two quickfire goals and Emmanuel Dennis netted in stoppage-time to compound Everton’s misery.

The heroes

- Josh King: it was always going to happen, wasn’t it? The striker failed to net in 11 games during his short stint at Everton last season - and hadn’t bagged in his past 29 league games. But King came back to haunt his former club with a hat-trick, playing off the shoulder of Michael Keane throughout the clash. Man of the match.

- Emmanuel Dennis: there were a few surprised faces when he replaced Watford talisman Ismaila Saar. However, he came on and had an instant impact, breaking with pace to put King clean through on goals. Then put the gloss on a fine performance with a late goal.

- Anthony Gordon: the youngster could leave Goodison with his head held high. He was a constant threat throughout, engineering Everton’s breakthrough goal. Gordon was lively throughout and the home crowd were not happy when he was brought off on the hour mark.

The villains

Ben Godfrey: the centre-back is still struggling to recapture his best form this season. Godfrey was outjumped by Juraj Kucka when Watford made it 2-2. Godfrey was then completely dragged out of position for King’s third.

Lucas Digne: the left-back was well below his best. It was Digne who committed the foul which led to Watford’s equaliser, was beaten by Dennis on the counter for Watford’s third and had blazed a gilt-edged chance over moments earlier.

Rafa Benitez: zonal marking has long been a criticism of his. Watford took full advantage of Everton’s system to defend set-pieces throughout. It’s where two of their goals came from, while Kucka also missed another free header. It needs to be remedied

Player ratings

Everton (4-4-1-1): Pickford 4, Coleman 4, Godfrey 3, Keane 3, Digne 3, Townsend 5, Davies 5, Allan 6, Gray 6 (Iwobi 77; 5), Gordon 7 (Richarlison 60; 6), Rondon 4.

Watford (4-3-3): Foster 6, Ngakia 5 (Nkoulou 76; 5), Troost-Ekong 6, Cathcart 6, Masina 6, Kucka 8, Sissoko 7, Sarr 7 (Dennis 65; 8), Tufan 6 (Pedro 65; 5), King 9, Cucho 7.

What’s next for Everton

The Toffees have nine days to hold an inquest into the thrashing until they’re back in action.

Benitez’s men make the trip to Wolves on Monday 1 November (20.00 kick-off).