BURNLEY, England, Dec 26 - BURNLEY 1 EVERTON 5
Everton ended their five-game winless run in emphatic fashion by drubbing relegation-threatened Burnley 5-1 at Turf Moor on Wednesday as they bounced back from their humiliation against Tottenham Hotspur in real style.
Everton, thrashed 6-2 at home by Spurs on Sunday, were 3-0 up inside 22 minutes against a poor Burnley side who face a long battle against relegation.
French left-back Lucas Digne scored twice for the Merseysiders who showed no signs of any lasting damage from their heavy loss.
"After Sunday we needed to prove that we can win and play very well. It was an important win for club and the fans," said former Barcelona wing-back Digne.
"We needed to start very well and after 30 minutes we were 3-0 up and it was fantastic. We feel good".
It took less than two minutes to grab the lead when the unmarked Yerry Mina headed in a cross from the left by Brazilian winger Bernard.
A curling Digne free kick beat Burnley keeper Joe Hart to double the lead in the 13th minute and nine minutes later Everton were 3-0 up.
Burnley defender Ben Mee handled the ball, rising for a header in a crowded penalty area, and referee Michael Oliver awarded a spot-kick which Gylfi Sigurdsson confidently converted.
Sean Dyche's side pulled a goal back eight minutes before the break when a James Tarkowski header was pushed off the line by Jordan Pickford and Ben Gibson hooked the ball home.
Burnley had a great chance to narrow the gap further after the break but Tarkowski missed the target from close-range.
Burnley's labour towards an attempted comeback came to nothing after Digne made it 4-1 with a low drive from outside the box in the 71st minute.
Brazilian Richarlison, rested with a start on the bench, completed the rout in stoppage time, collecting a fine through pass from Sigurdsson before slipping the ball home.
Everton manager Marco Silva praised his players and the club's supporters for the way they reacted to the defeat to Spurs.
"The fans welcomed our players before the match, which is fantastic after a tough result on Sunday and the players as well, they deserve this," said the Portuguese manager.
“I think the best solution to the last result was to play as quickly as you can, luckily for us we played after three days.
"They showed they are here to fight, to compete and to show the ambition we have as a club" he said.
Burnley boss Dyche said his team had been clearly second best.
"They started much brighter, much sharper with more energy. They were the better side and deserved to win," he said.
The result leaves Burnley inside the relegation zone in 18th place -- above only Huddersfield and Fulham.
"The margins are super fine; the challenge this season is we haven’t kept the margins tight. There’s a number of reasons why, but there’s no excuse. We are where we are and we don’t overly deserve to be better than where we are," said Dyche.
(Reporting by Simon Evans, editing by Ed Osmond and Pritha Sarkar)
