They looked fitter, more creative and a better cohesive unit than at most points of the last two seasons – but Everton were ultimately haunted by a theme that has pockmarked recent years: toothless finishing at one end and a hint of sloppiness at the other.
Sean Dyche’s side were denied by a long list of Bernd Leno saves, the crossbar and a questionable refereeing decision – but mainly have themselves to blame after a lack of clinicality across a team that is desperately crying out for a new striker.
As is customary in these parts, fans yearned for injured striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin as their team did not convert any of 19 shots and Neal Maupay squandered several clear-cut chances.
Fulham barely had a sniff but took their opportunity when presented with it and left Merseyside with a valuable three points.
The jubilant away end sang ‘f*** the Saudis’ as the Cottagers put behind them a summer of speculation that saw manager Marco Silva turn down huge cash from Al-Ahli and star striker Aleksandar Mitrovic also heavily linked with the Gulf state and Al-Hilal.
Marco Silva’s Fulham came out on top in their Premier League opener away to Everton
Bobby Decordova-Reid (R) netted the winner for Fulham as they won a vital three points
It was a disappointing afternoon for the Toffees as they kick-started their campaign with a loss
‘Very frustrated with the outcome,’ said Dyche. ‘We limited them to no chances in the first half while creating nine or 10, five of which were high quality. The mix of performance is all right when that happens but we’ve got to score a goal.’
Before the match, fans in the Gwladys Street End had unfurled a banner in solidarity of Dele Alli, who this summer gave a heartbreaking interview about sexual abuse as a child and a sleeping pill addiction. ‘We are with you Dele, together we are stronger,’ it read.
Togetherness has not been present often at Goodison Park in recent years but Everton showed a rarely-seen cohesion here as they defended in unison – barring a couple of blips for the goal and Raul Jimenez hitting the post – and showed a willingness to throw men forward.
Maupay led the line in Calvert-Lewin’s continued absence – he is unfit but has not suffered a setback in his recovery. And the Frenchman continued a theme that has stalked his Premier League career with Brighton and Everton: a handy player but not clinical enough.
He repeatedly got into good positions and could have scored after 33 seconds when he sprung through on goal but pulled his shot narrowly wide. Maupay fired straight at Leno from point-blank range later in the half and also poked another attempt into the keeper’s midriff.
Everton are working on signing another forward to supplement injury prone Calvert-Lewin and Co, after the £15million addition of youngster Youssef Chermiti this week. But director of football Kevin Thelwell admitted in his programme notes that ‘it has not been an easy window’.
Until Arnaut Danjuma’s second-half introduction – he shot wide when through on goal, though it might have been offside – Everton’s only new signing to play here was 38-year-old Ashley Young. Leeds’ Willy Gnonto is liked and refused to play for the Championship side yesterday.
Though it was no surprise to see Fulham dominate the ball and go into half-time with 70 per cent possession, it was a pleasant surprise to see Everton’s willingness to attack and throw men forward on the counter-attack.
Eveton defender Michael Keane thought he had put the Toffees ahead in the first half
However, James Tarkowski was judged to have fouled Bernd Leno in the build-up
Aleksandar Mitrovic was not chosen to start but looked sharp coming off the bench
One of those should have resulted in a goal after five minutes with the best chance of the first half when Abdoulaye Doucoure charged through on goal with a team-mate either side but opted to shoot and was stopped by Leno.
Doucoure then headed an Alex Iwobi cross goalwards minutes later and Maupay tried to tap it home but was, you guessed it, denied by Leno. The German keeper also made a commanding intervention to smother the ball from Maupay minutes later.
But Leno nearly gifted Everton the lead on 35 minutes when he came out for a cross and dropped the ball to Michael Keane who tapped into the empty net. But the goal was ruled out for a foul by James Tarkowski, who did not impede Leno in any way other than standing still.
‘I’m a big fan of VAR, I always have been but on today’s one that’s when VAR should step in,’ said Dyche. ‘I think their bench thought, “Oh that’s probably a goal”. I’ve seen it back, Tarky does nothing really… minimal contact. I have no clue what he’s meant to do.’
At the other end, new signing Raul Jimenez put in a solid shift and often dropped deep to impact attacks. His most notable moment was his last touch, when the former Wolves striker hit the post in Fulham’s first real dangerous moment of the game.
Decordova-Reid wheels away in celebration after tapping home from close range
But Everton continued to threaten and really should have scored on 67 minutes when Leno made a full-stretch save to deny Iwobi’s curling effort and Nathan Patterson rattled the crossbar from point-blank range with the rebound.
Danjuma then came on for his Everton debut but it was Fulham’s changes that made the Toffees pay before the Dutchman could even touch the ball. Pereira found a pocket of space in Everton’s box and crossed to fellow sub Decordova-Reid to tap home.
Everton did not accept defeat there and continued to carve out decent chances. New on-field captain Tarkowski perhaps should have hit the target when he headed wide at the back post late on, while Danjuma also saw a shot go wide.
‘We didn’t perform at our level,’ said Fulham boss Silva. ‘Everton had a good number of chances in the first half. Leno kept us in the game.’
