Everton boss David Moyes lauded an “immense” display from Michael Keane after the defender scored what could be his last goal for the club as they dealt a major blow to Fulham’s European hopes with a 3-1 win at Craven Cottage.
The Merseysiders recorded a first Premier League victory since April 12 after Vitalii Mykolenko equalised and Keane’s header put them in front following Raul Jimenez’s opener in the 17th minute.
A rare error by goalkeeper Bernd Leno saw Beto grab a quickfire third for Everton before Fulham were denied the chance of a consolation as penalty appeals for handball were turned down by VAR in stoppage time.
Defender Keane, whose deal runs out this summer, is expected to depart Goodison Park with no sign of a new deal on the horizon.
“Michael Keane, who has had some difficult times, played so well today and was immense for the goal off the corner,” Moyes said of the 32-year-old, who has been at the club since 2017.
“He’s a great boy and showed his professionalism as we’ve had injuries to (Jake) O’Brien and (James) Tarkowski and we looked different at the back.”
Emile Smith Rowe’s lofted cross set up Jimenez to power home the opener with his head before Mykolenko’s shot from the edge of the area took a heavy deflection off Andreas Pereira to draw Everton level in first-half stoppage time.
Keane’s header from a Dwight McNeil corner came in the 70th minute before Beto’s shot bobbled beneath Leno three minutes later as Everton sealed three points in the capital.
“We were incredibly poor in the first 30 minutes but nothing had broken for us in the game either. Mykolenko’s strike went in and that gave us hope at half-time,” Moyes added.
“It hugely changed my thoughts, it gave me a chance to take a breath and I’m glad we did because the team showed themselves in the second half. We got into the game and got the victory.”
It was a potentially crushing defeat for Fulham as rivals Brentford and Brighton, who are also vying for eighth spot to qualify for the Conference League, both took three points on Saturday.
“We have to blame ourselves,” boss Marco Silva said.
“In the first 30 minutes we were dominant, scored a great goal and we built our attacking situations. But after the 30th minute and our goal and some chances from Alex (Iwobi), you need to be ruthless and clinical and we weren’t.”
