Ahead of Everton travelling to Craven Cottage, we look back at a classic match away against Fulham
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Leon Osman celebrates scoring the second goal during the match between Fulham and Everton at Craven Cottage on May 24, 2009
Leon Osman celebrates scoring the second goal during the match between Fulham and Everton at Craven Cottage on May 24, 2009(Image: Christopher Lee/Getty Images)
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Incredibly for almost 43 years, Everton versus Fulham – whether played at Goodison Park or Craven Cottage – had been the biggest home banker in football. But ahead of a return to London for the FA Cup final the following weekend, the Blues changed all of that in 2009.
While David Moyes had got off to a flier as Everton manager by beating Fulham 2-1 in his first game in charge in 2002, such results were par for the course.
Between 1961 and 2018, the Blues won 22 consecutive home games against Fulham in the league, but the tables had been turned for a long time when going to the Cottagers.
Everton hadn’t triumphed by the banks of the Thames since Alan Ball struck the only goal of the game for them on his debut on August 20, 1966, having completed his £112,000 move from Blackpool – at the time a record transfer fee paid to an English club – on the back of his man-of-the-match display in England’s 4-2 victory over West Germany in the World Cup final.
Indeed, in seven consecutive defeats away to Fulham since the club from the capital had first won promotion to the Premier League in 2001, the Blues had netted just a single goal.
All that was to change though as Moyes’ men warmed up for their clash against Fulham’s far more successful west London neighbours Chelsea a mere six days later.
With squad members playing for their place in Everton’s Wembley line-up, the 2-0 victory on May 24, the final day of the 2008/09 Premier League season, ensured back-to-back fifth place finishes, and while their points tally of 63 was two less than the previous year, it was still two more than when they finished fourth in 2004/05, which remains their highest ever placing in the competition.
Writing in his ECHO verdict, Dominic King proclaimed: “Fewer wins and points, more goals conceded and not as many scored; more draws and a worse goal difference – proof, if it were needed, that statistics are frequently bunkum. When the end of a season arrives, it is only natural to take a backward glance at how a team has fared from August to May, so with that in mind, and having digested the above facts, some would feel compelled to suggest that Everton have taken a backward step.
“Nothing could be further from the truth. While the curtain was brought down on the 2008-09 campaign at Craven Cottage yesterday with a slick win, performances for much of the past nine months add weight to the argument that this, simply, has been Everton’s best effort under David Moyes. By some considerable distance, too.”
He added: “Basking in glorious sunshine on the banks of the Thames and savouring the fact that an eagerly-anticipated trip to Wembley is just a heartbeat away, they saw the men who Moyes had selected for duty begin with a swagger and confidence. Safe to say, however, that they might have been a little surprised by the strength of the Everton’s starting line-up – other managers would have wrapped their star men in cotton wool, but Moyes is a great believer in the next game always being the most important.
“For that reason, Tim Cahill, Steven Pienaar, Tim Howard, Leon Osman and Louis Saha were all on the pitch from the off, not resting as many expected. Indeed had you swapped Marouane Fellaini for Jack Rodwell, it could easily have been Everton’s cup final team. Moyes will know in his mind who he is going to choose for Wembley and how he is going to use them, but this was an opportunity for certain individuals with question marks hanging over them to provide some answers.”
While Ball had been a precocious talent who, at 21, was the youngest of Alf Ramsey’s side that lifted the Jules Rimet Trophy, it was Osman, a late developer, who didn’t start a game for Everton until the month of his 23rd birthday when Moyes selected him for a 2-1 loss at Wolverhampton Wanderers on May 1, 2004, but would go on to make 433 appearances for the club (the same number as their all-time leading goalscorer Dixie Dean), that proved the Blues’ two-goal hero on this occasion.
The Wigan-born home-grown hero downed Roy Hodgson’s side with left-foot strikes late in each half on 44 and 87 minutes, first rounding Mark Schwarzer and despatching a close-range finish and then a curling shot after a mazy dribble. Osman said: “You don’t work hard all season to throw it away on the final day.
Leon Osman takes the ball past goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer to score their first goal during the match between Fulham and Everton at Craven Cottage on May 24, 2009
Leon Osman takes the ball past goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer to score their first goal during the match between Fulham and Everton at Craven Cottage on May 24, 2009(Image: Christopher Lee/Getty Images)
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“We really wanted to finish fifth, we have done that and it keeps us all really sharp. We got a good work out but that wasn’t what we went down there for; we went to win the game and finish in fifth.
“We were completely focused on Fulham throughout, as we have been every league game. If we hadn’t been focused then I don’t think we would have finished fifth.
“We have shown great character and worked hard throughout; we’ve got the victories we deserved. The goals were a nice bonus – they always are – but there is still work to do.”
Unfortunately on their London return on May 30, despite Saha putting them ahead with what at the time was the fastest goal in FA Cup final history after just 25 seconds, Guus Hiddink’s Chelsea proved too strong for Moyes’ men as they hit back to win 2-1 with efforts from Didier Drogba (21) and future Blues boss Frank Lampard (72).