MARCO SILVA PRAISED the performance of his players as Everton maintained their Europa League hopes with a 2-0 win over Burnley.
An own goal from Ben Mee and Ireland’s Seamus Coleman header inside the first 20 minutes proved enough for the Toffees, who move to within a point of seventh-placed Wolves having played a game more.
Everton has won five of their last seven Premier League games to end the 2018/19 season on a high after speculation over Silva’s future earlier in the season.
Those seven games have yielded six clean sheets and Silva believes things are coming together nicely, but there is still plenty to work on despite the pleasing improvements.
“It was a very good performance,” he told reporters.
The first 30 minutes was fantastic. We played offensive football with quality and reacted well every time we lost the ball.
“It’s everything that we planned and everything I want to see. Tonight we achieved that.
“The second half was not so good, as we gave some chances to them, but we deserved the three points.
“All we can do is control our games. We did our job, now we wait, rest and prepare for the next game.
I think we deserved more from the game last week [the 0-0 draw with Crystal Palace], but that’s football. Tonight we reacted well, this weekend is done and we will see what the others do.”
Silva also brought on Phil Jagielka for a late cameo appearance in Everton’s final home game of the season, as fans wondered whether it would be the 36-year-old’s last game at Goodison Park.
Jagielka has been a long-serving player at the club, having spent more than a decade on Merseyside since joining from Sheffield United in 2007, but Silva says he hasn’t closed the door on the defender’s career at Everton.
“When I took that decision [to bring him on], it wasn’t about whether he will here next season. I will speak to Jags [Jagielka] in the next few days,” he said.
“His behaviour during the week was really good. When the team needed him, he was there and it’s everything we expect from a fantastic professional.
But what I said to him is to stay between me and him.”
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