Fulham see their Euro hopes all but slip away as Everton bounce back to claim the spoils
- By Yann Tear at Craven Cottage
- 5 days ago
- 3 min read
Fulham (1) 1 Jimenez 18
Everton (1) 3 Mykolenko 45, Keane 70, Beto 73
Fulham's bid to claim eighth place in the Premier League and a shot at a European place look all but shot after they failed to build on an early lead and faded away to defeat.
The Whites have one of the worst records in the division when it comes to losing points from winning positions and they once more disappointed having worked hard to eke out an advantage.
Early on, they looked in the mood to make these last three fixtures count in the race to take that potentially crucial eighth slot, which could yet be enough to get into next season's Euro Conference League in the event of Man City winning next weekend's FA Cup Final.
But they allowed Everton to draw level against the run of play just before the interval and were hit with two sucker punches in the second half that an Everton side with little to play for had not looked likely to produce.
The upshot is that with two to play, the Whites must win at Brentford next week to stay alive and hope they have a better result than the Bees on the final weekend. Even then, they have to hope both Brighton and Bournemouth slip up. They are now 11th on 51 points behind those three teams.
The fixture that has been short on goals and short on home wins got the outcome the super-computer might have predicted - well the away win part of it, at least.
Not since 2019 had there been a home win in matches between the sides - a run of nine games now, which included a 1-1 draw between the teams at Goodison Park earlier in the season.
For Everton, the stakes could not have been much lower for this jeopardy-free contest in the warm Thameside sunshine. The Whites had a bit more to cajole them, though and it showed.
Emile Smith Rowe has had a chequered season but when he turned James Garner to scamper to the byline and stand up a cross to the far post, Raul Jimenez was there to power in a header after climbing above Vitalii Mykolenko.
It was the Mexican's 14th goal of the campaign - 11th in the league.
The Whites kept probing away, looking for a second. Harry Wilson nearly got one, forcing Jordan Pickford to get down low to his left to keep out the effort. Everton offered little, but still managed to level it before the break.
Soon after Bernd Leno had stopped a Carlos Alcaraz effort, the Fulham keeper was left powerless when Mykolenko thrashed a shot past him past him from the edge of the box - the ball deflecting off Andreas Pereira. It came as the Whites failed to deal with a long throw into the box.
Ryan Sessegnon and Alex Iwobi combined well for the former to fire at Pickford as the Whites attempted to regain the initiative and Wilson almost beat the England keeper with an angled lob that that caused the Toffees stopper to land awkwardly.
Yet, in another of those rare ventures forward for the visitors, David Moyes' men found the net to take the lead - Michael Keane left unmarked at the far post to head in an inswinging corner from Dwight McNeil.
Moments later and the game was as good as over as Alcaraz slipped Beto through into the inside left channel and the striker's early shot caught Leno out before he was properly set - the keeper at fault as the ball slid under him.
It seemed to all-but sound the death knell of those European hopes. Marco Silva, watching from upstairs as he soaked up a one-game ban, looked on even more glumly than usual - his mood not helped by a late decision from ref Michael Salisbury not to award a penalty after Mykolenko accidentally handled an Adama Traore cross.
Whites: (4-2-3-1) Leno - Tete, Andersen, Bassey, Sessegnon (Godo 83) - Pereira (Cairney 74), Berge (King 83) - Wilson (WIllian 74), Smith Rowe (Traore 63), Iwobi - Jimenez
Toffees: (4-2-3-1) Pickford - Young, Keane, Branthwaite, Mykolenko - Gueye (Coleman 90), Garner - Harrison (McNeil 61), Doucoure (Ndiaye 61), Alcaraz (Iroegbunam 84) - Beto (Calvert-Lewin 90)
Attendance: 27,653
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