Match Review - Fulham 2 Everton 3 - Perfect Result but Far from Perfect Performance

Well, in many ways this was classic Everton wasn't it? A first half which we pretty much completely dominated, playing some scintillating football in the process, almost undone by what can only be described as a lacklustre second half performance which I'm sure had more than just me wishing for the final whistle!

It seems strange to have considered this game a "must-win" given it was only Everton's ninth Premier League game of the season, but after picking up only 1 point out of the last 12 available and with teams in and around us in the league seemingly starting to hit form, this very much was. We got off to the perfect start - I'd barely even sat down before Richarlison's cross was diverted in by Dominic Calvert-Lewin for his ninth league goal of the season. This was a sign of things to come with the Brazilian being instrumental for us (as expected) on his return from a 3 game suspension. The energy Richarlison brings both defensively and in attack is infectious and with him leading from the front we were able to press effectively and put Fulham under a lot of early pressure.

As always with Everton, we allowed Fulham back into the game for a short period in the first half which ultimately led to their first goal. Both Doucoure and Mina have to do better there for me - Doucoure just let his man run off him and Mina was so flat footed and slow to react that before he knew it the ball was in the back of the net and it's 1-1. I won't lie, I was a little bit concerned for a short while after they equalised. I felt we were being overrun in midfield and despite our early pressure we hadn't really got James Rodriguez into the game at all. It was at this point though that he began to pull the strings. So often this season he has been at the heart of everything we have done well going forward and today was no different. Our second goal came from a superb run from Iwobi from the right, beating 2 defenders before feeding Rodriguez, who had the vision to pick out Digne in the box who squared for Calvert-Lewin to bag his second. It was a fantastic team goal and we made it look easy. The third followed a similar pattern with Rodriguez again having the vision and quality to spot and find the run of Digne, who crossed for Doucoure to head home his first goal in a blue shirt. Half time came and I was left wondering just how many goals we would go on to score in this game.

The second half though followed an all too familiar and frustrating pattern, and the less said about it the better really. We did carve out a chance early in the half with Richarlison getting on the end of a Digne free-kick, but just not getting enough on the ball to send it past the keeper, but that was about as good it got. We lacked any of the intensity and determination we had seen in the first half and Fulham were on top for the majority. The sloppiness which plagued our second half performance was summed up by the penalty we gave away. I lost count of how many times we failed to track runners in this game, and this was another example - allowing a player to waltz into our box before Ben Godfrey dangled out a feeble leg bringing him to the ground. I'm not sure what Cavaleiro was trying to do with the penalty but the miss should have been the wake up call we needed...

It wasn't.

2 minutes later and Fulham had the ball in the net again, setting up a nail-biting last 20 minutes. Thankfully we were able to grind it out and take home a much needed 3 points, but I'm sure the second half performance will have given Carlo Ancelotti much to ponder over before next week against Leeds. That said, giving the result some context, we had a number of players away on international duty with the South American contingent only returning on Thursday, with Fulham having considerably fewer internationals, so to come away with a win - our third away win in the capital this season - will do me nicely.

Up the Toffees.

Positive - Alex Iwobi

It's ironic that playing Dominic Calvert-Lewin as a makeshift right wing back will always be used as a stick to beat Ronald Koeman with, when in this game the decision to play Iwobi out of position in the absence of Seamus Coleman might actually have been the making of the player at Everton.

This was Iwobi's best performance for a long time. The dashboard below shows just how involved he was up and down the right hand side.

He notched up an 87.5% pass completion (80% completion in the final third), completed 5 out of 6 take ons and managed 9 ball recoveries in an all-action display that should, in my opinion, ensure that he retains his place for the next game. The key for him now is to find a level of consistency which has so far eluded him since he signed.

Negative - The Defence

In short, our defence this season has been all over the place. Today was the sixth league game in a row that we have conceded at least twice - all in all we have conceded at least twice in 7 of our 9 league games. That to me needs addressing and quickly. It's a credit to how effective our attack has been this season that we currently sit 6th (at the time of writing) given we've had to score 3 goals to win the game in the vast majority of our games so far. If this continues it won't be long before we start to head in the wrong direction as far as the table is concerned.

Player Ratings

Pickford - 6 - Could do nothing about either goal, no mistakes (for once)

Digne - 8 - Constant threat going forward, 2 assists

Keane - 7 - Pretty solid and steady

Mina - 5 - Sloppy display, asleep for the first goal

Godfrey - 6 - All round decent display, love his pace, the pen lost him a mark

Iwobi - 8 - see above, close to motm

Allan - 7 - slow start but grew into the game, terrier-like

Doucoure - 7 - sloppy defensively at times but took his goal well

Rodriguez - 7 - anonymous for large parts but moments of quality led to goals

Richarlison - 8 - involved in everything good first half, faded in second when pressing stopped

DCL - 9 - Motm, 2 goals, fantastic hold up play, can't ask for any more from the number 9

Davies - 7 - Made a difference and brought a calmness when he came on

Sigurdsson - 3 - Garbage