26 October 2024
Everton 1 Fulham 1
Everton faced Fulham at Goodison Park, a ground where The Cottagers had previously won on their last three visits. Sean Dyche’s side have seen a change of fortunes of late and were looking to build on that run of form. The visitors have created a bit of a Jekyll and Hyde personality this season and you never seem to know which team you will face.
The first real chance of the game fell to Fulham as Tete did well out wide and picked out Jimenez in the box. The Mexican controlled it well on his chest but seemed to snatch at the chance and made it all too easy for Pickford to save. Despite their physical presence in their defence, The Toffees often seem to get outmuscled far too easily.
McNeil sent Calvert-Lewin away with a defence-splitting pass. The Toffees’ striker looked to cut inside Bassey but went to ground far too easily for the referee to even consider awarding a penalty. For his size and presence, the Everton striker often seems like Bambi on ice. He was going to need to show more strength if he was to have any joy against this Fulham defence.
Mykolenko then gifted the ball to Pereira who laid it off to Jimenez. He played it into the path of Traore, who drilled the ball at Pickford from a tight angle. The Fulham winger is not known for his finishing abilities but if he were to improve them, he would be some player. His pace and strength makes him a handful for most sides.
The visitors were piling on the pressure and a deep cross to the back post was headed down brilliantly by Jimenez. He fed it perfectly into the path of Smith-Rowe, who skied his shot over the bar from all of six yards out in the middle of the goal. The hosts were struggling to cope with Fulham and you felt a goal was imminent.
On a rare foray forward, Gueye struck a sublime effort from outside the box. His shot rattled the crossbar and almost went in off the back of Leno. As it dropped to Calvert-Lewin, he slotted home but immediately the flag was raised for offside. The replay showed that the Everton striker had just strayed as the initial shot came in.
There are a lot of defenders in the Premier League who are better known for their attacking abilities. Mykolenko is one of those. It must be a Ukrainian thing as both he and his countryman Zinchenko could not defend the Berlin Wall. Had either of these players been on the frontline for their country, there would been Russian flags raised in Kyiv a long time ago.
However, his cross from out wide was attacked by McNeil but Leno made a fine save to deny the hosts. Sadly his header was straight at the Fulham keeper and you felt that if it had been a yard either side of him, it would have been a certain goal. As a result, the sides went in at the break with nothing to separate them.
Into the second-half, Fulham continued to probe. Smith-Rowe skipped past a few Everton players before laying it off to Iwobi. The former Everton man dropped his shoulder, cut inside and made some room for him to pass the ball into the bottom corner of the goal. Goodison Park fell silent as the visitors’ winger came back to haunt them.
Marco Silva’s side seemed in complete control at this stage. Iwobi ghosted in at the back post to meet a ball on the volley. It seemed he was trying to tee up Jimenez in the box but almost scored himself but for a brilliant bit of defending by Doucoure. He managed to backheel it away from goal on his own line and could have so easily diverted it into his own net.
Finally the hosts carved out a chance when Mykolenko’s cross was headed goalwards by Beto. Leno got down well to make the save in the bottom corner. With only added time left to play, the visitors just had to see this game out now. Nobody could argue that Fulham had done enough to take all three points at Goodison Park.
Another hopeful cross was lifted into the box and Young cushioned his volley at the back post back into the danger area. Beto headed home to send the home fans into delirium. It was a cruel blow for The Cottagers and meant that Everton were now five games unbeaten. Despite not dominating much, The Toffees never gave up in this match.
Fulham missed the chance to put themselves in the European places but remain in tenth spot. Everton have now seen them open up a five point gap between themselves and the bottom three. Both sides will be pleased to not get embroiled in a relegation scrap this season. Marco Silva will be the more disappointed of the two managers as they had enough chances to put this game to bed.
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