The onus is not only on Everton’s goal-shy strikers to turn promising play into points, David Moyes had insisted before Fulham’s visit. “I want more goals from my centre-halves and midfielders as well,” the Everton manager said. Idrissa Gueye and Michael Keane duly obliged to deliver a deserved victory over Marco Silva’s toothless side.
Everton’s second win in nine matches was relatively comfortable as Fulham demonstrated why their leading scorer this season is opposition own goals. A brief flurry in the second half aside, the visitors were subdued throughout by Everton’s greater urgency and quality. Moyes’ team had three goals disallowed for offside too, but a poacher’s finish from Gueye in first-half stoppage time and Keane’s late conversion ensured there would be no reprieve for the former Everton manager.
No player needed a goal more than Thierno Barry, the Everton striker who had gone 10 Premier League outings without a shot on target after his £27m summer arrival from Villarreal and missed a gilt-edged chance to put his team 2-0 up at Sunderland on Monday. The 23-year-old headed the first opportunity of the game over Bernd Leno’s crossbar when picked out by Iliman Ndiaye’s fine cross.
