Everton 1 Fulham 3: Toffees in huge Premier League relegation blow as James, Wilson and Reed end Cottagers losing run
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THE BLUES descended on Goodison Park as Marco Silva came back to haunt the club that sacked him.
Silva, sat in the stand as he served the second of his two–game touchline ban for going wild at Old Trafford during Fulham’s FA Cup meltdown, will surely have had a quiet smile to himself.
He got his marching orders from Everton over three years ago and had never won a Premier League game at the old stadium.
But there was sweet revenge for the feisty Portuguese and nothing but misery for current boss Sean Dyche, his players and above all the home fans.
In the moments after Dan James slammed home the 68th-minute clincher they began deserting in droves.
This clash had been seen by them and no doubt Dyche as a must-win game.
Instead, it turned into the disaster that told the disillusioned faithful who filed sadly away that after last season’s narrow escape from relegation the only way, this time, is down and out.
Fulham spent the first half an hour in complete control as the tension within those Toffees fans, already high before kick-off, ramped up even more.
Dyche made three changes including leaving Amadou Onana out of the squad while he was also without another midfielder in suspended Abdoulaye Doucoure and his new 4-4-2 formation flopped dismally.
Even without the ferocious presence of No. 1 striker Aleksander Mitrovic, undergoing an eight-game ban for his part in the craziness against Manchester United, they had the Toffees running scared.
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Their recent form had fallen off a cliff - five defeats in a row in all competitions - yet it was no surprise, therefore, when Harrison Reed put the Cottagers ahead in the 22nd minute.
Harry Wilson darted forward with a neat swerve to let fly from 22 yards.
His shot smacked off the foot of Jordan Pickford’s left-hand post but as the home defence froze in shock Reed hammered the rebound low into the net.
Dyche made swift tactical changes, switching Alex Iwobi infield in a 4-2-3-1 formation and the result was instantaneous.
Neal Maupay should have equalised with ease ten minutes after Reed’s opener when James Tarkowski rose to head into his path but just six yards out the striker who has scored only once in 23 games since his £15M summer move from Brighton sent his effort straight at Bernd Leno.
There would be another from him just before the break – cameos of a frontman who has bottomed out on confidence – as he played a 1-2 with Dwight McNeil who then waited a heartbeat too long to give Leno the chance to smother his shot.
In between, however, McNeil did lift the gloom around most of the place for a while at least, clipping home brilliantly.
But that was as good as it was going to get for a side that fell apart as Silva’s team rediscovered the form that just a few weeks ago had them dreaming of Europe.
In the 51st minute, Kenny Tete sent the ball deep into the box where Willian cut back for Wilson to calmly tuck away.
Pickford, ever more exposed, saved well to keep out Andreas Pereira but the England No. 1 was only delaying the inevitable.
Tete sent a forty-yard free kick towards James and the Welsh winger’s feet were just too fast for the Toffees defenders to handle.
His first touch got lucky as it flicked off the heel of the struggling Michael Keane but he made the most of his good fortune to leave Pickford for dead with his left footer.
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