Everton’s win against Chelsea on Sunday may have come as a surprise to some of the fanbase, as we last beat a top-six side in 2017, but Marco Silva has vowed that we cannot endure the same drought again, according to quotes reported by the Express.
The win back in 2017 came against Manchester City in a shock 4-0 rout over Pep Guardiola’s side at Goodison Park, in a season we also beat Arsenal at home, but a two-year struggle has seen any Everton side regularly fall victim to the Champions League chasers without much fight.
Even before those two wins in the 2016/17 campaign, you have to look at another near two-year drought before our previous win over a top-six side in the Premier League, and all the way back to 2010 for one in the Merseyside Derby.
Going on another drought, though, is something that Silva is keen to avoid, but to live up to his words he will need the players to deliver on the pitch.
“The first thing I want to say to you is that this is something that cannot happen again,” the boss told the assembled media after the Chelsea game. “It is not a normal thing, for a club like us, not to be winning against a strong side.
“Of course, I am 100 per cent sure all of the managers and players who were here before did their best to achieve that, like I am doing now. But for our quality as a club and how big we are as a club, we cannot allow that to happen again.
“It is not an easy thing and it’s the first time we have achieved it this season but I am sure we can achieve it more times, even this season, because we have more opportunities in the weeks ahead.”
The first chance for Silva’s Everton to try and repeat Ronald Koeman’s rare achievement during his time in charge will be against the Gunners on April 7, before the Portuguese gaffer gets another chance with Manchester United and Tottenham both still to play before the season reaches its end.
Unfortunately, like with Liverpool, we have a torrid record against Spurs in recent years, with no win over the North London outfit since 2012 and have conceded 16 goals to them in our past four encounters – beating Mauricio Pochettino’s side on the final day, then, will definitely go a long way in getting the fans on side.