The Joe Thomas verdict on another superb away day for Everton at Fulham
Tyrique George celebrates with Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall
Tyrique George celebrates with Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall(Image: Offside via Getty Images)
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It might not have been a dream debut for Tyrique George but the deadline day signing made a difference in his first minutes in an Everton shirt.
His new side was trailing at Fulham but, somehow, they were still in the game. The hosts had laid siege to Jordan Pickford’s goal in an opening 45 minutes in which they almost blew the Blues out of sight.
When this game crossed the hour mark just one goal separated the teams, however. The sheer fact the visitors were still in this match appeared to inspire hope in the away end. The introduction of the 20-year-old then turned that hope off the pitch into belief on it.
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It was not that George produced an outstanding moment with Everton trailing, he did not. But in replacing Harrison Armstrong - a central midfielder who was used once again by David Moyes out wide for the start of this match - he provided his team with more thrust, more balance and more intent.
Suddenly, Everton were a threat down both flanks and George, desperate for the ball, brought an influx of ingenuity and creativity as he tried to help his team wrestle an initiative they surrendered once Jake O’Brien’s header bounced off Bernd Leno’s post in the first five minutes.
It was George who started the move for Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall’s equaliser, taking the ball and sending Vitalii Mykolenko down the left. The Ukraine international skipped inside his man and crossed to the attacking midfielder, whose low effort evaded Leno.
The danger was that Everton would allow a wounded Fulham to dictate play and hunt for a winner but George was pivotal in preventing the flow of the game from heading in one direction.
He provided Fulham with a warning when he took the ball on the left and cut inside onto his right, dragging defenders with him and creating space to shoot. The effort screwed over the bar but it was another reminder that Everton had the ability to hurt Fulham.
The second goal - the match winner - quickly followed. From finisher to creator, Dewsbury-Hall was at the centre of the chaos again - though like the first goal, his second was helped considerably by Leno. Dewsbury-Hall’s inswinging corner was threatening and O’Brien’s bulk was a challenge for the Fulham keeper to fight his way past, but his tame punch somehow sent the ball spinning into his own goal.
The Craven Cottage faithful fell silent as the noise levels in the away end hit new heights. Everton saw out the match, including seven minutes of added on time, and left this part of London with three points for the second successive visit. Moyes, watching from the upper tiers of the host’s luxury river-side stand as he served a touchline ban, smiled in glee when Stuart Atwell blew the final whistle. He shook his fists in joy and then clasped the hand of club captain Seamus Coleman, who had spent the match alongside him. After the game he was happier to talk about his being set to avoid relegation than being in position to challenge for Europe, but his side - seventh on the final whistle - are certainly in that battle.
The comeback was an extraordinary finish to a game that, for so long, looked set to end in ignominy.
Everton had, after all, needed half-time. They were desperate for it. They had started brightly, O’Brien heading against the inside of the post from an early corner. Later in the opening 45 minutes Armstrong volleyed narrowly wide and Thierno Barry was inches from connecting with a dangerous ball across goal from Dewsbury-Hall.
But those opportunities were brief moments of respite as Fulham laid siege to Pickford’s goal. The England number one has produced a number of stellar performances at Craven Cottage and his efforts in the first half ranked among the best of them.
Pickford was unfortunate to concede in the first place, though the same could not be said for most of his teammates, four of whom were left as spectators as Samuel Chukwueze lifted a clever ball over the top of the back line to find the run of Alex Iwobi. Michael Keane halted his run but the ball found its way to the back post, where Raul Jimenez’s effort was clawed away by Pickford after he had scrambled across his goal line to deny the Mexico international. His efforts were in vain, though, as his save was diverted in by the nearby body of the hapless Mykolenko.
Barely seconds after the celebrations had subsided, Pickford had to be alert to save at his near post when Chukwueze’s snapshot looked set to catch him off guard. He then reacted well to stop Emile Smith Rowe when the Blues defence was shredded by a Chukwueze pass to leave the former Arsenal man through on goal.
Pickford could do little about separate efforts from Smith Rowe and Chukwueze that beat him but not the crossbar. Given Everton conceded an unfortunate own goal moments after hitting the woodwork themselves, there could have been a case for saying they were unlucky. Yet if there was any luck at play it was in the Blues’ favour as they walked down the tunnel - they could have easily been trailing by four or five.
Instead they were still in this match and, for the third consecutive game, they emerged a different team for the second half and fought back. Like with Leeds United and Brighton, it would be wrong to walk away from this game thinking Everton do not have issues that need dealing with.
But this comeback win was the latest example of a squad that has the strength and belief to overcome adversity. In west London on Saturday afternoon, it was George who best embodied that.