Marco Silva explains why he benched Richarlison | OneFootball

Everton ran away 5-1 winners at Turf Moor on Wednesday, even without star winger Richarlison in the lineup.

However, the Brazilian came on in the 67th minute and was still able to score as Everton bagged five goals on the road for the first time since a 5-2 win against Sheffield Wednesday in April 1996.

When asked about Richarlison’s omission from the XI, Marco Silva gave a pretty understandable answer.

“Like you know, it is a busy December,” Silva said.

“They are humans, they are not machines. It is hard for them to play all the matches and a game every three days.

“We have to manage their physical condition and Richarlison has been playing almost every minute of every game and we have different solutions so we can manage this situation.

“I know how important he is for us but the others are working hard as well.

“He had a difficult week last week, he was sick and then played a difficult game against Tottenham and it wasn’t his best performance and we had some problems.

“I am here to manage his physical condition.”

Fellow Everton winger Ademola Lookman missed another match, and Marco Silva was unable to give an exact timetable on his return.

“He wasn’t able to play,” the Everton manager said.

“Let’s see in the next few days. He hasn’t started training with the team yet. It is possible for the next match but it won’t be easy but let’s see about the other one.”