Everton 0-1 Fulham
Last week I confessed my reluctance to make forecasts about Fulham games but I am not alone in that. One journalist charged with predicting last Saturday's Everton v Fulham Premier League opener could only suggest that it would feature last on Match of the Day. Even that prediction proved wrong.
A safer bet would have been that Marco Silva would receive his first yellow card of 2023-24. He does not possess the calmest of temperaments but I was surprised by the hostility shown towards him in some of the media just because he received an extravagant offer from Saudi Arabia and did not immediately reject it. Martin Samuel wrote in the Sunday Times (23 July 2023):
'While no-one is judging, it doesn't make Silva the man for the long term or a project, or manager a club can even rely on being there next week if he spies an opportunity elsewhere.'
Silva's response was clear and unequivocal:
'I was not close to leaving. I want to challenge myself in the best and most difficult league in the world.'
He has said little about the club's prospects this season, presumably because he is waiting to see if his paymasters secure him another player or two. His team made a satisfactory start, coming away from Goodison Park with three points.
Although Everton are short of fire power it is hard to understand how they failed to score in a nerve-wracking first half. Goalkeeper Bernd Leno had earned his Man of the Match award by the interval making three critical saves from Neil Maupay and also defying Abdoulaye Doucoure and Amadou Onana. It did assist the visitors that efforts by Alex Iwobi, Idrissa Gana Gueye and Nathan Patterson were off target.
Everton seemed to have scored in the 35th minute when Leno collected a Patterson centre only to lose possession after tumbling onto James Tarkowski. Micael Keane rolled the ball into the net but referee Stuart Attwell had already penalised Tarkowski for the initial contact with the keeper.
Though Fulham had more than their share of possession their attack was toothless. For once Willian made little impact and he earned an early yellow card for timewasting because referee Attwell was quick to apply the latest guidance. If the officials do this consistently the game will surely benefit (but, please, no special treatment for the Manchester teams).
Typically the Whites improved after the interval, with Bobby DeCordova-replacing Willian. Sasa Lukic came close and Raul Jimenez hit the woodwork just before he was replaced by Aleksandar Mitrovic. Patterson and Iwobi maintained their quest for a goal but in the 69th minute Mitro slipped the ball to Andreas Pereira, whose glorious centre was converted by DeCordova-Reid. The Everton defence had gone missing and full credit to the Whites for exploiting the opportunity.
Leno saved from Michael Keane, then Jason Pickford had a rare touch of the ball when Mitro aimed Fulham's second shot on target. The game finished 1-0 to the visitors.
It was a good weekend for Silva with an away win and the signing of Adama Traore. Everton fans were understandably upset by the result and a pathetic minority abused Maupay and his family on Instagram. Everton rallied behind their player and it was great to see the Whites issuing their own statement:
'Discriminatory and abusive behaviour of any kind will never be welcome at Fulham Football Club. We stand with Neal Maupay and support Everton's message to report, condemn and highlight such abuse.'
The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and unless specifically stated are not necessarily those of Hammersmith & Fulham Council.
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