Marco Silva praised a “fantastic” response from his Everton players in a thumping victory over Burnley at Turf Moor.
The Toffees were shell-shocked to lose 6-2 to Tottenham on Sunday but managed an equally emphatic 5-1 victory three days later.
Silva said: “It was a fantastic answer from our players – not just the team but the fans as well. We prepared well, we started well, because it is not easy to play here.
“When you have a bad result the best thing is to play quickly and the players have proved that. We have got a good result, an important win.
“The last result was tough but we have no doubts about our personality or quality. We had a bad afternoon but have proved not just our quality but our commitment and attitude as well.”
Yerry Mina opened the scoring inside two minutes with his first goal in English football and that set the tone. Lucas Digne doubled the advantage with a fine free-kick in the 13th minute and Ben Mee’s handball allowed Gylfi Sigurdsson to make it three with only 22 minutes gone.
Burnley responded by reducing the arrears before half-time, Ben Gibson marking his first Premier League start for the club with a scrappy goal, and James Tarkowski had a great chance to pull another one back in the 49th minute.
But he sent his effort over the bar, Digne scored his second from long range and Richarlison finished off the scoring with the final kick of the game.
Digne, one of three summer signings from Barcelona, is now established at left-back, and Silva added: “Lucas is important for us. He has settled really fast in the club and Premier League. He is a fighter and with lot of quality – with crosses, free kicks and corners as well.”
Burnley’s performances in recent weeks had been more like the form they showed in qualifying for Europe last season, but this was a real step back and the Clarets remain deep in trouble.
Sean Dyche took the result on the chin, saying: “We didn’t deserve anything today. You can’t start for 20 minutes like we did. Credit to Everton, they started well with an energy and a purpose, but you can’t give goals away.
“It was a poor first goal, a sloppy free-kick for the second and, for the penalty, Ben is only jumping, their lad hits him as he does. I’m not saying it would have been massively different, but if it’s two and you nick one it’s a different feel.
“The lads responded at 3-0 and nicked one and I told them the next one was massive. We had a golden chance and, if Tarky puts them under pressure, maybe they are nervous but then our best chance had gone.
“It’s not just about scorelines it’s about performances as well. Today you can’t judge because you’re out of the game before you’re in it.
“The games coming up are massive for our season. It’s not about concerns, it’s about realities – we are where we are because we haven’t deserved any better. We haven’t kept the margins tight enough.”
Everton travel to Brighton on Saturday while Burnley have another home game against West Ham on Sunday.
