Watford boss Marco Silva says he did not see Richarlison dive

Watford boss Marco Silva has defended Richarlison from accusations of diving

Watford manager Marco Silva was quick to defend Richarlison after the Brazilian earned his side a penalty in their 2-1 win over Arsenal on Saturday.

Richarlison went down in the penalty area under a challenge from Arsenal right-back Hector Bellerin, with referee Neil Swarbrick pointing to the spot.

Captain Troy Deeney stepped up to convert the resulting spot-kick to bring the home team level, before Tom Cleverley's stoppage-time strike handed Watford all thee points.

"I have seen the penalty now and I respect the decision of the referee," said Silva after the game. "It's important, I didn't see a dive or a simulation.

"Richarlison has suffered the most fouls in the Premier League this season, and people are starting to say he dives.

2:47 Watford 2-1 Arsenal Watford 2-1 Arsenal

"He is not. He is fair, He wins fouls like the best players in the world win fouls."



Deeney, meanwhile, believes something special is brewing at Watford after they continued their best start to a Premier League campaign.

The striker's arrival off the bench just after the hour mark sparked the Hornets' fightback and he said team spirit was there to see.

"We have had a great start to the season and when we play the big teams we don't want to do ourselves an injustice," Deeney said.

"It's not a bad start, but it doesn't mean anything now.

Watford's Troy Deeney celebrates scoring his side's first goal of the game from the penalty spot

"We are just taking it game by game. We're having a great start, we've got a great bunch, I believe we are building something really good and you can see with the late goals it shows we have got belief and that we are all in it together.

"It's a massive team effort and it's a good win and we go again on Monday."