Everton 0 Fulham 2
There is a gulf between Fulham and Premier League safety but Scott Parker’s side will feel nothing is beyond them after recording a historic victory at Everton. Fulham had never won at league game at Goodison Park, had not taken even a point here since 1959, but two goals from the debutant Josh Maja delivered a richly deserved three points in their fight for survival.
The visitors were on top throughout against an anaemic Everton team that once again failed to show the right attitude or application when expectation was upon them. Carlo Ancelotti, taking charge of his 50th Everton game, could have seen his team go level on points with fourth-placed Liverpool with a win but they were second best all night. The longest winning run against a single club in top-flight history, a 22-game streak stretching back to 1961, was comprehensively dismantled.
In a team meeting on Friday Ancelotti urged his players not to repeat the mistakes that contributed to a 2-0 defeat by Newcastle in their last home league game. Overconfidence and a lack of spirit were his chief criticisms that day, and the Italian would have been forgiven for wondering had anyone been listening as Everton served up a repeat of that casual, ineffective display. His animated body language spoke of disbelief throughout the first half.
Fulham controlled the opening third of the contest and, for all the hosts’ failings, they were nullified Ancelotti’s side with a relentless pressing game. The visitors’ survival prospects had taken another blow before kick off when Aleksandar Mitrovic tested positive for Covid-19. Josh Maja, on loan from Bordeaux, made his debut in place of the Serbia international with Bobby Decordova-Reid floating to menacing effect behind him. Their work-rate and movement amply compensated for Mitrovic’s absence.
Ruben Loftus-Cheek served an early warning to Everton’s new-look, all-Yorkshire central defensive pairing of Ben Godfrey and Mason Holgate when he raced clean through to meet a long ball and forced Robin Olsen to save with his legs. The midfielder was eventually flagged offside but Everton were kept on the back foot deep inside their own half by Fulham’s energy and sharp, incisive passing.
The visitors should have edged ahead when Decordova-Reid flicked on Ademola Lookman’s corner at the near post. His backheel sailed across the six-yard area and struck the far post with Olsen rooted. The rebound fell to Ola Aina, who scuffed his close range shot straight at Abdoulaye Doucouré, but the loose ball dropped invitingly for Joachim Andersen in front of the Everton goal. Leaning too far back, the Fulham captain skied his effort wastefully over.
Harrison Reed enjoyed a fine game in Fulham’s midfield, in his defensive work and in the final third, and went close with a drive from the edge of the Everton area after Decordova-Reid turned Lookman’s cross into his path. Lookman, the former Everton winger, was next to threaten after a slick exchange of passes with Decordova-Reid. Lookman cut inside Séamus Coleman and Godfrey but dragged his shot wide of the near post.
By this point Everton had not managed one attempt on Fulham’s goal. Perhaps swayed by the success of a similar system at Wolves, Ancelotti opted to start with Gylfi Sigurdsson in attack in the absence of the injured Dominic Calvert-Lewin. Richarlison offered the promise of pace from the left, James Rodríguez ingenuity from the right, but it was a strange selection with the deadline-day signing Josh King available and Everton in need of fresh legs after playing 120 minutes against Tottenham in the FA Cup on Wednesday. All three were anonymous and it was no surprise when Richarlison was switched to centre-forward shortly before half-time.
André Gomes’ harmless shot wide in the 33rd minute represented Everton’s first effort of note. Seconds later, however, Coleman burst through from the halfway line and, with the Fulham defence in retreat, ignored Sigurdsson’s call for a pass to the left and struck Alphonse Areola’s left-hand post with a low drive from 20 yards. It was a fleeting threat from the home side, but not the cue for a much-needed improvement.
Fulham took a deserved lead moments after the restart when Aina and Lookman prised open Everton’s right flank with ease. The left-back muscled his way past Doucouré – no simple feat – before playing a one-two with Lookman that took Coleman out of the equation. From the byline Aina drilled his cross behind Godfrey and Holgate to give Maja a gift of a first Fulham goal from close range.
The Nigeria international did not have to wait long for his second Fulham goal. It again arrived from the visitors’ left flank, Lookman sizing up his options before picking out Reed unmarked in the centre. The impressive midfielder swept a powerful shot from 25 yards that was tipped on to a post by the Everton goalkeeper, but the rebound fell perfectly for Maja to convert into an unguarded net. – Guardian
