Johnson just the job for Everton
Everton striker Andrew Johnson hit a debut goal in his side’s 2-1 win over newly-promoted Watford at Goodison Park.
Johnson made a perfect start to life on Merseyside after his 8.6million pounds pre-season transfer from Crystal Palace when he struck after just 15 minutes.
But Watford refused to be overawed and it took a controversial penalty decision for Everton to wrap up the points.
Mikel Arteta scored from the spot after Chris Powell was adjudged to have handled before Damien Francis pulled one back for Watford in the final minute.
Watford manager Adrian Boothroyd insisted the unjust nature of his side’s defeat should not detract from a promising display.
He said: “It was human error and I have to have half an hour’s cooling-off time before I can strangle the referee.
“It was a mistake, no doubt about it, and it just shows referees and linesmen need technical help to avoid errors like that in the future.
“But I don’t want that incident to ruin what was a very pleasing, positive performance.
“What more evidence do people now need to realise we are going to have a go at this division, and we now know we are capable of achieving something.”
Everton boss David Moyes admitted the penalty decision was cruel on Watford and he said: “I think we may have been a little lucky with that, it did seem a bit harsh. But we didn’t get much else in terms of decisions, so we’ll take that one.
“We knew this would be hard. Watford are only just up in this division and they were always going to have a real go.
“They gave us trouble but we made it difficult for ourselves at times.”
Johnson opened the scoring when he collected a pass from strike partner James Beattie, jinked past three defenders and beat Ben Foster with a perfectly placed shot into the roof of the net.
Boothroyd handed debuts to Nigeria defender Danny Shittu and Jamaica midfielder Francis, but his side struggled to contain the pacy Johnson in the first half.
Australia midfielder Tim Cahill went close to doubling Everton’s lead when he met Arteta’s free-kick with a header that struck the inside of the post and rebounded to safety.
Boothroyd made a double substitution at half-time, sending on Hameur Bouazza and Jay DeMerit and Watford gave as good as they got after the break.
Bouazza nearly levelled the scores when his misjudged cross sailed onto the bar with on-loan Manchester United goalkeeper Tim Howard beaten.
Francis should have equalised when the home defence failed to deal with a deep cross, but he shot wide with the goal at his mercy.
Marlon King’s prolific form last season was crucial to his side’s promotion campaign, but the Watford striker couldn’t hit the target when he took aim from the edge of the penalty area in the closing minutes.
Everton broke away to seal the points in highly fortunate circumstances eight minutes from full-time.
Cahill surged into the box and his cross struck Watford defender Powell but, although it appeared to hit him in the head, a penalty was awarded.
Spaniard Arteta stepped up to calmly convert the spot-kick but Watford refused to accept defeat and they reduced the deficit in the 90th minute.
Everton were caught napping from a short corner and Francis scored with a fierce shot that gave Howard no chance as it deflected past the Everton goalkeeper off Alan Stubbs.
Source:Soccer News
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