Everton kicked off their 2019/20 home campaign with a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Watford on Saturday, the Blues' fifth win on the bounce at Goodison. Here, we look at the key talking points from the encounter.

Captain Gets His Message Across 

The manner in which Everton burst from the starting gate brought to mind pre-match comments from Seamus Coleman.

Everton’s captain vowed his side would operate on the front foot with a view to breaking their deadlock for the campaign.

Marco Silva, too, had suggested this was the day to add creativity and goals to the resilience which had yielded nine clean sheets in the Blues’ past 12 matches.

Everton got after Watford from the first whistle, immediately planting their foot on their opponents’ throats and not releasing the pressure for a good 20 minutes.

When Lucas Digne overcooked his first corner, Bernard hurried to retrieve possession on the left.

The Brazilian’s cross was bundled out by Watford but Everton had the away team penned in. Digne, then, was in no hurry to retreat and it was the Frenchman who eventually took aim from 20 yards.

Digne’s effort flew off target but within minutes he was called on to send in two more corners in quick succession.

When the second of those was only cleared to the edge of the box, it was an Everton player in Gylfi Sigurdsson first on the scene. He weaved his way through a mass of bodies, Watford only able to stop the midfielder’s progress by nefarious means.

The resultant free-kick perhaps spoke loudest about the visitors’ prevailing mood.

Digne’s strike looped spitefully off the defensive wall. Nevertheless, you fancied a ‘keeper of Ben Foster’s nous and composure to collect the dropping ball.

Rather, the former England keeper totally misread its flight and was mighty grateful to grab it at his second attempt.

The only question at this juncture concerned when and how Everton would strike.

The tenth minute was the answer to the first part of that poser.

As for the second, perhaps no surprise Digne was involved. The left-back defended strongly in his own half before spying Bernard making tracks down the wing.

Bernard, possibly mindful of his manager and captain’s pre-match urgings – not to mention the South American’s stated intention to hit the net more often after scoring twice last term – took the most direct route to goal.

He cut infield, creating space to shoot, then caught Foster on the hop by shooting early and inside the ‘keeper’s right post.

Home Sweet Home For JP

This encounter represented a Goodison Park debut for Jean-Philippe Gbamin, the Ivorian whose first Everton outing came as a battlefield promotion following an injury to Andre Gomes at Crystal Palace last week.

Gbamin was thrust into a sink-or-swim scenario against Palace and he kept his head above water, helping Everton negotiate a tricky late period with 10 men.

Here, the 23-year-old had the relative luxury of dipping his toe in the water, feeling his way into the encounter before leaping head first into the deep end.

The first indication of Gbamin really imposing himself on the contest came on 13 minutes, the former Mainz player tracking Gerard Deulofeu to the left touchline and overpowering the Spaniard.

A clamorous Goodison roared its approval as Gbamin emerged with possession to skip past Will Hughes before laying off his pass.

Posted in front of Everton’s defence, Gbamin provided an impenetrable barrier when Abdoulaye Doucoure tried to progress upfield with the ball at his feet inside 60 seconds.

Gbamin's climbing confidence was reflected in his selection of pass. He played it fairly safe early on, going square to Seamus Coleman for example.

Either side of dispossessing Deulofeu, though, Gbamin was only marginally off beam with balls which nearly sprung teammates.

He was not far off sending Lucas Digne free down the left, with Gylfi Sigurdsson then inches from gathering a pass slid down the middle.

Jean-Philippe Gbamin's heat map against Watford

Gbamin reads the game very well. His nose for danger was useful when Watford were indulging in a neat exchange of passes at the edge of Everton’s box just past the half hour.

As the visitors busied themselves trying to manufacture an opening, Gbamin stole in and nudged the ball back to Jordan Pickford.

The midfielder was characteristically unflustered when he then received possession inside his own half from Pickford.

Gbamin had his back to goal and a pair of Watford players bearing down on him. He simply went back to his goalkeeper, who then picked out Andre Gomes, in plenty of space with Gbamin having attracted all the visitors’ attention.

Everton had a lot of work to do off the ball once Watford got to grips with the game. The Hornets started to gain the ascendancy in terms of possession, leaving Gbamin to cover in front of his full-backs and close spaces.

He got about the pitch with an elegant stride which made his consistent running seem deceptively easy. Gbamin rarely moved ahead of the ball as Everton protected their lead after half-time. He did, though, remain ambitious in possession, one pass spread right for Walcott only narrowly missing its target.

They Shall Not Pass

That is six Goodison Park clean sheets on the spin for Everton. Marco Silva’s side has recorded 10 shutouts in 13 matches in all.

This one felt especially important given its timing. Everton finished last season like a steam train. The task now is to provide a solid base and avoid the need to play catch up later on in this campaign.

With seven new signings to bed into the team and the adaptation process that entails, results have to be achieved any which way.

You have a far greater chance of getting them if you’re stopping your opponents from hitting the net.

Everton are becoming masters of an art which is increasingly underrated – strangely given the only team to record more clean sheets than Silva’s in this calendar year is champions Manchester City.

Yerry Mina and Michael Keane are forming the type of defensive partnership which can sustain a team.

Mina’s in-and-out debut season meant he would have been determined to establish himself at the heart of Everton’s defence this time round.

He has now played a substantial role in securing successive shut outs – just as he did in his first two starts for the Club last term.

There is a pattern developing here. Mina was part of a Colombia team which did not conceded a goal at the Copa America this summer. His country let in only one at the World Cup two years earlier.

Keane – to borrow from Seamus Coleman again – is playing with his chest out, a proper Everton player.

When opponents do get beyond those two, Jordan Pickford is proving himself one of the best goalkeepers in one-on-ones anywhere in the world.

Silva is often at pains to stress his side’s toughness is a collective effort and starts at the top of the pitch.

Everton press quickly when the time is right. When they allow the opposition over halfway, the Blues are compact, dropping into two distinctive defensive lines – with very little space separating them.

On other occasions, it just needs an individual to grit his teeth. Someone to stick their body in the way of a shot or win a big header. Maybe to crash a boot through a ball bouncing around the box.

Everton have a team full of players prepared to do that unglamorous work.

All those things add up to the zero every football team wants to achieve.