Watford manager Marco Silva has defended the actions of Richarlison, insisting that the Brazilian attacker did not attempt to deliberately con the referee to win a penalty against Arsenal.

The summer signing from Fluminense went down inside the box under minimal contact from Hector Bellerin, leading to official Neil Swarbrick awarding a spot kick.

Troy Deeney converted and Watford would go on to turn the match on its head completely, as Tom Cleverley scored in added time to earn the Hornets a famous 2-1 win at Vicarage Road.

Opposition boss Arsene Wenger was furious with the decision to point to the spot at a pivotal point in the game, but Silva says that the call could have gone either way.

"I respect of course the decision of the referee," he told reporters. "When I saw that moment it's 50/50. It's not an easy decision. If the referee didn't give the decision to us I have to accept it. But I didn't see that moment like a dive, I didn't see that moment like a simulation.

"It's important to understand what is simulation and a dive and what is a moment when a player feels a short contact and goes down. It is different things.

"I think the key was the way we played the second half, we changed our attitude in the match and I think as well the way we reacted after the 1-1. In a normal situation you drop back again and wait for our opponents to create problems for us because we played against a very, very good team who have fantastic players.

"But we continued to believe we can score the second and we were lucky with the second goal because we tried to find the luck as well."

Watford have made their best start to a top-flight season after eight games since their maiden campaign at this level in 1982-83, accruing 15 points so far.