Gueye along with Keane find the net as the Toffees defeat Fulham
David Moyes had made clear before Fulham's visit that the onus for scoring goals should not rest only on his side's strikers. “I expect more goals from my centre-halves and central players as well,” he stated. The Senegalese midfielder and the English defender responded perfectly, earning a well-earned victory over the opposition's ineffective side.
The Merseyside club's second win in nine matches was largely untroubled as Fulham demonstrated the reason their leading scorer this season is goals gifted by opponents. Aside from a brief flurry in the latter period, the away side were kept quiet all match by Everton’s greater urgency and technical ability. 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 ensured there would be no comeback for their ex-coach.
No player needed a goal more than the young striker, the Goodison Park attacker who had failed to register a shot on target in 10 league games 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 on Monday. The 23-year-old headed the first opportunity of the game over Bernd Leno’s goal frame when picked out by his teammate's excellent delivery.
The home side controlled the opening stages and the Fulham goalkeeper tipped over the midfielder's 30-yard free-kick, awarded after Sasa Lukic was yellow-carded for hauling down the Everton midfielder. Lukic brought down the same player later in the half but the referee, Andrew Madley, rightly ignored Everton appeals for a second yellow. Silva was taking no further chances, though, and withdrew the midfielder at the interval.
The striker believed his fortune had changed at last when sliding in at the back post to convert a drilled pass by Gueye. But the joy of a first Everton goal was wiped out by an linesman's decision. Ndiaye was in an illegal position when going for Gueye’s cross, and missing, and the video assistant referee backed up the on-field decision. The forward's bad luck may have continued in the final third, but his all-round performance validated the manager's choice to keep the faith. His movement and effort kept busy Fulham’s central defenders and helped give the hosts the upper hand all game.
Fulham grew into the game slowly with Sander Berge and the ex-Goodison player the Nigerian working well in the engine room, but the early danger from the away team was minimal. Raúl Jiménez fired weakly at the England keeper when set up inside the area by his teammate and sent a free-kick from a dangerous position directly at the Everton wall. That summed up their attacking output.
Everton, inspired by Dewsbury-Hall and Ndiaye, had a another strike disallowed for offside when Leno parried a Keane header and James Tarkowski volleyed in the loose ball. The skipper had just strayed beyond the last defender when heading on the winger's delivery in the build-up. But Everton’s third attempt beating Leno did stand. Vitalii Mykolenko floated a lovely cross to the far post when found in space on the left flank by Tim Iroegbunam. Tarkowski met it with a thumping header off the crossbar and, though Iroegbunam mishit the rebound, his midfield partner Gueye converted from point-blank. The sense of release inside the ground was evident.
Everton had a further effort ruled out after the restart 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 touch that fell to the home player. The team would have to wait until the 81st minute for the comfort of a two-goal lead. Dewsbury-Hall was the creator with a corner that the defender directed past the goalkeeper. He scored with the upper body, and Fulham’s appeals for handball were rejected by VAR.
Silva’s side carried more of a threat following the substitutions of Josh King, Rodrigo Muniz and the winger. Pickford made a fine stop with his legs to deny the substitute scoring with his initial involvement and stopped the speedster with a crucial save in the dying moments.
