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Marco Silva has described the performance of Idrissa Gueye as “amazing” as the manager secured his first win in charge of Everton.

Goals from Theo Walcott and Richarlison – his third in two games – gave the Blues a 2-0 half-time lead at Goodison but Southampton staged a fightback by cutting Everton's lead in half through Danny Ings.

But the Blues dug in to hold onto their lead to hand Silva his first victory as Blues boss and Gueye was among the stand-out performers.

Asked for his thoughts on the midfielder's performance, Silva said: “Amazing.

“Like he did in the last game as well. But for me this is not a surprise because what he did this afternoon, what he did last week, it is what he always does and during the week he plays like he trains everyday and the works everyday like he plays. For me, his performance was no surprise.”

Ahead of kick-off, Silva had called on the Goodison faithful to give the players the backing they “deserve” and after the final whistle the 41-year-old thanked the home fans.

“Everybody is happy,” he said.

“It was an important win for us, a good performance in some moments of the game as well, a fantastic atmosphere in our stadium as well. Our first match is really good.”

“Fantastic, but it is something I expected,” he added about the atmosphere.

“I know here that the crowd is normally fantastic and they know, because I already told them, that it is important for our players for us to feel them behind us, always supporting our players, even in the moments in the game when you can't perform well it is important to feel them.” Silva