David Moyes had made clear before Fulham's visit that the responsibility for scoring goals must not fall solely on his side's forwards. “I want more goals from my defenders and midfielders as well,” he declared. Idrissa Gueye and Michael Keane duly obliged, earning a well-earned victory over the opposition's toothless side.
Everton’s second win in nine matches was largely untroubled as the visitors demonstrated why their leading scorer this season is opposition own goals. Apart from a brief flurry in the second half, the away side were subdued all match by Everton’s greater urgency and quality. Moyes’ team had three goals ruled out for offside, but a poacher’s finish from the midfielder in added time before the break and the defender's second-half header ensured there would be no reprieve for their ex-coach.
No player was more in need of scoring as much as Thierno Barry, the Goodison Park forward who had gone 10 Premier League outings without testing the goalkeeper after his big-money move from the Spanish side and missed a gilt-edged chance to put his team 2-0 up at the Stadium of Light on Monday. The 23-year-old headed the earliest chance of the game wide of the Fulham keeper's crossbar when picked out by his teammate's excellent delivery.
The home side dominated the opening stages and the Fulham goalkeeper tipped over James Garner’s long-range set-piece, awarded after the Fulham player was booked for hauling down the Everton midfielder. Lukic tripped the identical opponent again before halftime but the referee, the man in charge, rightly ignored home protests for a sending off. Silva was taking no further chances, though, and withdrew the midfielder at the interval.
The striker thought his luck had changed at last when arriving at the back post to turn in a low cross by his teammate. But the elation of a maiden strike was wiped out by an linesman's decision. The attacker was offside when going for the delivery, and missing, and the VAR supported the on-field decision. The forward's bad luck may have continued in front of goal, but his overall display validated the manager's choice to stick with him. His movement and work-rate occupied Fulham’s central defenders and helped give the hosts the edge all game.
The Londoners came into the contest slowly with the Norwegian and the ex-Goodison player Alex Iwobi working well in midfield, but the first half threat from the away team was minimal. The Mexican striker shot tamely at the England keeper when set up inside the area by Iwobi and put a free-kick from a promising location straight into the Everton wall. That summed up their attacking output.
Everton, inspired by the midfielder and the forward, had a another strike disallowed for offside when the Fulham goalkeeper parried a Keane header and the captain fired home the rebound. The skipper had just strayed beyond the last defender when nodding down the winger's delivery in the buildup. But the team's third attempt past Leno did stand. Vitalii Mykolenko floated a perfect ball to the far post when found in space on the left flank by Tim Iroegbunam. The defender met it with a thumping header off the crossbar and, though the midfielder mishit the rebound, his midfield partner Gueye finished from point-blank. The sense of release inside the ground was palpable.
The home side had a further effort ruled out early in the second half after the playmaker found the bottom corner from a further excellent delivery from the left. The attacker had laid off the delivery into the striker, who was in an offside position when challenging the Fulham defender for the ball that fell to the home player. The team would have to wait until the 81st minute for the comfort of a second goal. The provider was the creator with a corner that the defender glanced over the goalkeeper. He did so with the back of his shoulder, and the visitors' protests for handball were rejected by VAR.
Silva’s side carried more of a threat after the introductions of Josh King, the Brazilian and the winger. The Everton keeper saved well with his legs to prevent Muniz finding the net with his initial involvement and stopped the speedster with a crucial save late on.
