Everton boss Benitez: Difficult to explain collapse against Watford | OneFootball

Everton boss Rafa Benitez struggled to explain their 5-2 home defeat to Watford on Saturday.

Josh King scored a hat-trick against his former club on the day.

“It is difficult to explain when you are winning 2-1 and concede four goals in a few minutes," said Benitez, who refused to point to missing players to excuse the result.

“We need to understand how to manage games, especially at the end when we are winning. We didn't do it and we paid for that.

“We conceded a few goals in a few minutes and you cannot allow these things in the Premier League.

“When you score the second goal and are winning, you have to be more compact and better organised.

“We made mistake after mistake and gave the ball away and allowed them too much time on the ball and they had the space to play on the counter-attack."

Benitez also said: “We were confident [at 2-1] because we had some control in the game, then mistakes gave them hope and belief and we continued making more mistakes.

“Instead of staying calm and tying to manage the last minutes – if you concede you have time to score another goal – we made more mistakes and left more space.

“We started the season really well winning games at home and if we'd won the last one against West Ham [1-0 defeat last Sunday], it would have been the best start at Goodison since 1978. Then we've lost two games in a row, which no-one was expecting.

"It is something we have to consider and not make the same mistakes next time."