Ninth against 10th, 34 points versus 34 points – that’s how the day started when Everton travelled to Craven Cottage.
There was never going to be much in it, was there?
2-1 to the visitors it finished. Dewsbury-Hall with a second-half equaliser before Bernd Leno clumsily punched into his own net to seal all three points for the Toffees.
The Everton fans were raucous. Fulham’s departed dismayed. Football is about taking your chances, and the Toffees did just that.
Daily Mail Sport’s GETHIN HICKS was in position to analyse the action.
An own goal from Bernd Leno earned Everton a crucial three points at Craven Cottage on Saturday
The Everton fans were raucous. Fulham’s departed dismayed. Football is about taking your chances, and the Toffees did just that
A tale of two halves
David Moyes must have had some choice words for his side shortly before 4pm in the old-fashioned Craven Cottage dressing room, because a different Everton emerged after a break.
The visitors were drab, even dire, in the first half. In the second they dominated.
The equaliser had been coming long before Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall side-footed home on 74 minutes. From there, you could almost sense an Everton winner was on the horizon.
A set-piece eventually won it. Bernd Leno punching into his own net under pressure from Jake O’Brien on 83 minutes. From there the game was done – Everton’s wily defence wasn’t going to let that lead slip.
Only table-toppers Arsenal (9) have conceded fewer away goals than the Toffees (10) this season, and that’s no coincidence.
Moyes watched on proudly from the peak of the Riverside Stand as his team moved into the top half of the Premier League.
He took over a little over a year ago with the club sat precariously in 17th position, one point off relegation. Now, they sit seventh, dreaming of a long-awaited return to Europe.
‘We want to have a go at Europe,’ Moyes said post-match. ‘You might laugh at me in a few weeks but I want the players to know what I want. I think we’ve made big improvements and we need to make more.’
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, who had a great game, scored the equaliser on 74 minutes
Serving a touchline ban, David Moyes celebrated from the stands
Dismay for Silva
Marco Silva trudged on to the Craven Cottage turf at full-time, head bowed, almost in disbelief.
His side were stellar with the sun shining before the interval. Their football was free-flowing. Jimenez put them one-up, Chukwueze hit the crossbar from distance and, in truth, they should have been out of sight.
If it wasn’t for Jordan Pickford, they would have been.
But the team which emerged for the second 45 was unrecognisable. As their side gave away countless balls in the middle of the park, the nervousness among the Fulham faithful was palpable.
Emile Smith-Rowe, Samuel Chukwueze and Harry Wilson, who had impressed earlier, faded and Fulham lost control. Their defence unable to withstand a bombardment of crosses from the aerially-dominant Toffees.
It was far from surprising the game was won by a set-piece, scored in front of a raucous Everton away end.
Silva made changes, young debutant Oscar Bobb was one of them, but couldn’t turn the tide back in Fulham’s favour.
This was a story the fiery Portuguese has read before. His side have lost three games to last-minute goals this campaign. Avoid those, and they could be in the European spots.
Instead they stay 10th and consigned to midtable mediocrity – for now.
Marco Silva trudged across the Craven Cottage turf at full-time, head bowed in disbelief
Emile Smith-Rowe, Samuel Chukwueze and Harry Wilson, who had been stellar earlier, faded and Fulham lost control
Traditional wingers are back in fashion
They say traditional wingers have gone out of the game, don’t they? Well, in Samuel Chukwueze, the Whites appear to have found one.
If there was one player who deserved to be on the winning team on Saturday, it was the Nigerian paceman.
Flanked by left-back Ryan Sessegnon, he had the out-of-position Jake O’Brien all at sea before the break.
Chukwueze ran at him with the sort of fearlessness so lacking in modern-day wide men and, with end product to match, was the standout player for Fulham.
Having played a delightful dink through to Alex Iwobi in the build up to the opener, he brought the Cottage faithful out of their seats moments later with a powerful strike from distance which crashed against the crossbar.
Fulham have an obligation to make his move permanent for £22million in the summer. At that price, they’d be foolish not to do so.
