David Moyes celebrated his ninth anniversary as Everton boss with a 2-1 win over Fulham, with goals from Seamus Coleman and Louis Saha.
Everton welcomed back Phil Neville and Tim Cahill from injury, with Neville occupying a midfield role in the absence of Mikel Arteta while Cahill was pushed further afield behind Saha.
The game started slowly. Everton regained the ball well and looked the side more likely to carve out a goalscoring opportunity. Leon Osman put an effort over and Leighton Baines fizzed a strike across goal.
Louis Saha came closest to breaking the deadlock after diverting a Leighton Baines corner goalbound, only to see it bundled off the line from Salcido.
The goal came for Everton after some clever work down the left. Cahill knocked it out wide to Baines, who found Osman who brilliantly outdone the Fulham defence to lift a cross to the back post for Coleman to place a firm header back across goal and beyond Schwarzer.
Everton doubled their lead inside five minutes into the second half. Rodwell was stopped in his tracks just outside the area by Etuhu and From the resulting free-kick, Leighton Baines laid the ball to Saha who fired home, right-footed, through the wall for his 10th goal of the season. 2-0.
Clint Dempsey pulled one back for Fulham with a powerful low shot inside the box after being teed up by a neat off-load by Bobby Zamora following Damien Duff´s cross from the right. Clint Dempsey´s effort swung the momentum Fulham´s way but they were unable to exploit their greater possession in the second half.
Jagielka almost put the game beyond any doubt late on but saw his goal bound header turned away from Salcido but the earlier goals proved enough and Everton deserved to repeat their victory over the Cottagers in Moyes´ first match just over nine years ago.
Everton Football Club stands on the brink of a new chapter as The Friedkin Group…
Everton Football Club have issued the below statement. Everton Football Club has been acquired by…
Jarrad Branthwaite feels that Everton's resilient display in Saturday's 0-0 draw at Arsenal has laid…
Can anyone remember life at Everton before Jordan Pickford? He’s part of the furniture round…
Everton deliver a commanding performance, securing three vital points and moving five points clear of…