David Moyes had stressed before the match against Fulham that the onus for scoring goals should not rest only on his side's strikers. “I demand more goals from my defenders and central players as well,” he stated. Idrissa Gueye and the English defender duly obliged, delivering a merited victory over the opposition's ineffective side.
The Merseyside club's second win in nine outings was fairly straightforward as Fulham highlighted the reason their top marksman this season is goals gifted by opponents. Aside from a brief flurry in the second half, the away side were contained throughout by Everton’s superior intensity and quality. Moyes’ team had three goals ruled out for infringements, but a close-range strike from Gueye in first-half stoppage time and the defender's second-half header made sure there would be no comeback for their ex-coach.
No player needed a goal as much as the young striker, the Everton forward who had gone 10 Premier League outings without testing the goalkeeper after his £27m summer arrival from the Spanish side and missed a gilt-edged chance to put his team two goals ahead at Sunderland earlier in the week. The 23-year-old directed the first opportunity of the game over the Fulham keeper's goal frame when found by Iliman Ndiaye’s fine cross.
Everton controlled the early exchanges and the Fulham goalkeeper tipped over James Garner’s long-range set-piece, given after Sasa Lukic was yellow-carded for fouling the Everton midfielder. Lukic brought down the identical opponent later in the half but the referee, Andrew Madley, rightly ignored Everton appeals for a sending off. The Fulham boss was taking no further chances, however, and withdrew the midfielder at the interval.
Barry thought his fortune had changed at last when sliding in at the back post to convert a drilled pass by Gueye. But the elation of a maiden strike was erased by an linesman's decision. The attacker was in an illegal position when going for the delivery, and failing to connect, and the VAR supported the original call. Barry’s misfortune may have persisted in front of goal, but his all-round performance validated the manager's choice to keep the faith. His runs and effort kept busy Fulham’s central defenders and helped give the hosts the edge all game.
Fulham came into the contest gradually with the Norwegian and the ex-Goodison player the Nigerian combining effectively in the engine room, but the early danger from the visitors was minimal. Raúl Jiménez fired weakly at Jordon Pickford when set up in the box by Iwobi and put a free-kick from a dangerous position directly at the defensive barrier. That summed up their attacking output.
Everton, inspired by Dewsbury-Hall and Ndiaye, had a second goal disallowed for offside when Leno saved a Keane header and the captain fired home the loose ball. The home captain had moved offside when nodding down the winger's cross in the buildup. But Everton’s next effort past the keeper did stand. The left-back delivered a perfect ball to the back post when found in space on the left flank by the youngster. Tarkowski connected with a thumping header against the bar and, though the midfielder mishit the rebound, his midfield partner the scorer converted from point-blank. The relief inside Hill Dickinson Stadium was evident.
The home side had a third goal ruled out early in the second half after Dewsbury-Hall found the bottom corner from another inviting Mykolenko cross. The attacker had cushioned the ball into Barry, who was offside when challenging the Fulham defender for the ball that reached the Everton midfielder. The team would have to wait until the closing stages for the security of a second goal. The provider was the creator with a set-piece that Keane directed over the goalkeeper. He scored with the upper body, and Fulham’s appeals for a handball were dismissed by VAR.
Fulham posed more danger after the substitutions of Josh King, the Brazilian and Adama Traoré. The Everton keeper made a fine stop with his feet to prevent Muniz scoring with his first touch and denied Traoré with another important stop in the dying moments.
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