David Moyes had made clear before Fulham's visit that the onus for finding the back of the net must not rest only on his side's forwards. “I expect more goals from my centre-halves and midfielders as well,” he declared. Idrissa Gueye and Michael Keane responded perfectly, delivering a merited victory over Marco Silva’s ineffective team.
Everton’s second victory in nine outings was fairly straightforward as Fulham showed the reason their top marksman this season is goals gifted by opponents. Aside from a brief flurry in the second half, the visitors were kept quiet throughout by Everton’s superior intensity and technical ability. Moyes’ team had three efforts disallowed for offside, but a close-range strike from the midfielder in added time before the break and the defender's late conversion made sure there would be no reprieve for the former Everton manager.
No one was more in need of scoring more than the young striker, the Everton forward who had failed to register a shot on target in 10 league games without testing the goalkeeper after his £27m summer arrival from the Spanish side and missed a clear opportunity to put his team 2-0 up at Sunderland on Monday. The youngster directed the earliest chance of the game over the Fulham keeper's goal frame when picked out by his teammate's fine cross.
The home side controlled the opening stages and the Fulham goalkeeper pushed over James Garner’s 30-yard free-kick, given after the Fulham player was yellow-carded for fouling Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall. Lukic brought down the identical opponent later in the half but the official, Andrew Madley, rightly ignored home protests for a second yellow. Silva was not risking anything, however, and withdrew the midfielder at the break.
Barry thought his fortune had finally turned when sliding in at the far post to convert a drilled pass by Gueye. But the elation of a maiden strike was wiped out by an assistant referee’s flag. Ndiaye was in an illegal position when going for Gueye’s cross, and missing, and the VAR supported the original call. The forward's bad luck may have persisted in front of goal, but his overall display justified Moyes’ decision to keep the faith. His movement and work-rate occupied Fulham’s central defenders and contributed to the hosts the upper hand all game.
Fulham came into the contest gradually with the Norwegian and the former Everton midfielder the Nigerian working well in midfield, but the early danger from the visitors was minimal. The Mexican striker fired weakly at Jordon Pickford when teed up inside the area by Iwobi and sent a free-kick from a promising location straight into the Everton wall. That summed up their attacking output.
Everton, driven on by Dewsbury-Hall and Ndiaye, had a another strike disallowed for offside when Leno saved a effort from Keane and James Tarkowski volleyed in the rebound. The home captain had moved offside when heading on Jack Grealish’s delivery in the buildup. But Everton’s third attempt beating Leno counted. Vitalii Mykolenko floated a perfect ball to the back post when left unmarked on the left flank by Tim Iroegbunam. The defender connected with a thumping header off the crossbar and, though Iroegbunam fluffed his lines, his midfield partner Gueye converted from point-blank. The relief inside the ground was evident.
The home side had a further effort disallowed after the restart after the playmaker found the bottom corner from a further excellent Mykolenko cross. Ndiaye had cushioned the delivery into Barry, who was offside when competing with Joachim Anderson for the ball that reached the home player. The team would have to be patient until the 81st minute for the comfort of a two-goal lead. The provider was the architect with a corner that Keane glanced over the goalkeeper. He scored with the upper body, and Fulham’s appeals for a handball were rejected by the video official.
Fulham posed more danger following the introductions of Josh King, Rodrigo Muniz and the winger. Pickford saved well with his feet to deny Muniz scoring with his first touch and stopped the speedster with a crucial save in the dying moments.
