Watford boss Marco Silva says he did not see Richarlison dive

By PA Sport

Image: 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.

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"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.

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"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.

Image: 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."

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