Deeney claims the referee’s attitude fired Watford up at HT

Joe Williams
Troy Deeney Watford

Troy Deeney has claimed that the referee “fobbed” Watford off in their 2-2 draw against Everton on Monday night.

Richarlison put the Toffees ahead against his former club in the first-half before two goals in three minutes from Roberto Pereyra and Abdoulaye Doucoure put Watford in command.

However, Lucas Digne left it until the 96th-minute to curl in a free-kick and give Everton a share of the spoils.

“It’s a shame,” Deeneytold Sky Sports after the match. “It feels like a defeat but you have to give credit where it’s due. The free-kick went in top corner. We felt we were the better team in terms of know-how. When you score two away from home, it’s usually enough to win.

“The ref’s have got a tough job. We as players just want a bit of respect when we’re talking. When they make a mistake we didn’t highlight it, we just tried to have a chat with him but he fobbed us off. We felt like the whole world was against us.

“Unfortunately we just fell a bit short.”