Fulham 1 Everton 0: Fulham captain Brian McBride stuck a vital second-half matchwinner against Everton to revive their hopes of avoiding relegation from the Premier League.

McBride dented Everton's Champions League qualification dreams and boosted Fulham's chances of beating the drop when he headed home from a cross by Simon Davies in the 67th minute.

It was struggling Fulham's first victory since beating Aston Villa at Craven Cottage at the beginning of February and Roy Hodgson's side deserved to take all three points with a performance of grit and determination that Everton could not match.

They began in sparkling fashion but their eagerness to get an early goal was all too evident when Jimmy Bullard scuffed a 20-yard shot that failed to trouble Everton goalkeeper Tim Howard.

Fulham were the only side in the game in the early stages and a delightfully chipped pass by Davies allowed McBride to try his luck with a left-foot volley that flashed past the far post.

Everton's lack-lustre start was clearly of concern manager David Moyes and their situation was not helped by an enforced substitution in the 13th minute.

England striker Andrew Johnson was replaced by Tony Hibbert after appearing to collect an ankle knock.

The home side were guilty of some poor passing in the final third and but they were rarely troubled by an Everton side that now relied on the solitary figure of Aiyegbeni Yakubu in attack.

It took the Merseysiders until the 24th minute to engineer their first real attempt at goal and then Steven Pienaar's effort bounced harmlessly wide of Kasey Keller's upright.

But it was Everton who came closest to breaking the deadlock three minutes before the interval.

A smart move down the right flank involving Pienaar and Phil Neville ended with Yakubu finding space inside the penalty area.

However, the Everton striker tried to use power to beat Keller and the Fulham goalkeeper was able to palm the ball to safety.

Fulham began the second period full of intent but the lack of invention from the midfield continued to ensure the scoresheet remained blank.

Everton were equally unimpressive with creativity at a minimum although a rare burst of pace from Neville brought a booking for Fulham's Danny Murphy in the 55th minute when he checked his run with an ungainly lunge.

The breakthrough finally arrived in the 67th minute through captain McBride. The goal owed much to the skill and endeavour of Davies on the left flank who sent over a perfect cross for the American striker to head into the roof of the net.

It was just reward for the home side who had kept their more illustrious opponents subdued for much of the contest. It proved to be enough for Fulham to hang to all three points and leave them, momentarily at least, three points from safety at the foot of the table.