When former Watford man Richarlison headed Everton into a 2-1 lead on Saturday afternoon, it looked as if the visitors' winless run at Goodison Park was going to continue for another season.

However, new head coach Claudio Ranieri made a brave decision, which ultimately provided the Hornets with the boost they needed to turn the game on its head in quite sensational style.

While few could have predicted four Watford goals would come between Richarlison's strike and the full time whistle, what was obvious was an imbalance in the Watford front line.

Among those aware of a problem was Ranieri, who made the bold call to remove club record signing Ismaila Sarr and introduce Emmanuel Dennis to the game, along with Joao Pedro who replaced Ozan Tufan.

From there, the flow of the match turned spectacularly on its head, with the pace and intent from the new arrivals forcing Everton into a number of costly defensive errors.

Prior to the match at Goodison Park, Sarr had played the entirety of all the preceding league games this season and had not been substituted since the 4-1 win away at Rotherham back in March.

His last substitution before that was almost exactly a year ago, on October 21, 2020, in the 3-1 home win over Blackburn Rovers.

While both of those previous substitutions came from positions of strength, Saturday's change came from a need to improve things up front and Ranieri's decision brought about the desired effect.

It takes a strong-minded person to hook the club's star player and top scorer immediately after the need for goals has intensified and others might not have been able to bring themselves to do the same.

Yet, as good as Sarr has been so far in this campaign, it was clear that he was playing at a standard below his best at Everton.

On the left, Cucho Hernandez had looked dangerous throughout and was causing problems for Seamus Coleman, while Joshua King through the middle was having his best game so far since his arrival, buoyed by his first goal for the club.

However, on the right, Sarr was having a frustrating afternoon, perhaps best summed up by his egregious waste of a counter attack at the end of the first half, in which he skewed a shot from distance high into the Gwladys Street End, when King standing 10 yards ahead of him in the centre was clearly the better choice.

The head coach's decision to remove the Senegal international not only highlighted his tactical awareness, but also demonstrated how his experience can benefit Watford this season.

Granted, he has only had two games in charge, one of which was a 5-0 defeat, but this one decision provides some evidence to suggest that his hand might be a good one to have on the tiller.

Had the change not paid off, he no doubt would have been asked questions about his rationale for removing the club's most effective attacking player, particularly at that stage in the game, and no doubt that prospect would have led other coaches to shirk the responsibility of such a big call.

Yet strong decisions will have to be made more than once, if Ranieri is to force some consistency into his team and keep them in steady shape this season.

Luckily for him, he has had one of those choices taken away from him this weekend, with Emmanuel Dennis' fifth yellow card ruling him out for the game against Southampton.

Otherwise, it might have been interesting to see who lined up in the attacking positions at Vicarage Road on Saturday.