- Beto scored a late equaliser for Everton after coming on as a substitute
- Alex Iwobi had given Fulham the lead as he scored against his old club
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Not for the first time, Marco Silva would have left Merseyside with a bitter sense of regret wondering what might have been.
Five years after he was sacked at Everton, the Portuguese boss was on the cusp of his fourth win in four visits since taking charge at Fulham and it felt like he had made victories at Goodison Park a belated habit. But just like his Toffees tenure, it ended in disappointment.
Substitute Beto scored his first league goal of the season – and just fourth overall since his £25million move from Udinese last summer – in the fourth minute of second-half stoppage time to salvage Everton a point and make it five games unbeaten for Sean Dyche.
Fulham were the better team and, with seconds left on the clock, it felt like Alex Iwobi was going to join his manager Silva in haunting his old club after his 61st-minute strike had the Cottagers in eighth and with designs on an improbable – but not impossible – European push this season.
But in keeping with the theme of Dyche’s tenure, Everton pulled themselves up off the canvas just when it felt like they were down and out. Boom and bust springs to mind. After four losses to start the season, they are now five unbeaten.
‘Beto’s career path has been meteoric,’ said Dyche, noting how he was working in a KFC in 2019. ‘It is a brave header, he throws himself in amongst it. As Brian Clough said, sometimes you need to get hurt to score a goal and he certainly was willing to get hurt to score that goal.’
As a team that seemingly thrives amid adversity – think of how their best runs last term strangely coincided with off-pitch turmoil and points deductions – it probably helped that the Goodison Park crowd was growing restless and frustrated with a sub-par performance.
This, though, was a reverse of the last two times Fulham came here. Twice last season, once in the league and once in the Carabao Cup quarter-final, the Toffees had been the superior team only to end with nothing. Now it was Fulham’s turn to not claim a deserved victory.
‘Sometimes football is difficult to explain,’ said Silva. ‘All the things that do not go in the direction of the team that played much better from the first minute, we were the only team that wanted to control the game. It is tough for all of us right now. Football was not fair this evening.’
Dyche agreed and said: ‘I thought we weren’t at it. Fulham were better than us and we were short. But football lasts for 96 minutes, I asked the lads to show relentlessness and they did. I put Keano up there and it worked.’
Sky Sports’ top brass might have spent the first half cursing at a dull affair after televising this ahead of the three late winners or equalisers in 3pm kick-offs at Molineux, Villa Park and the Gtech Community Stadium. Patience is a virtue, though, and the late drama was worth the wait.
It was a game low on attacking quality that needed a spark of individual brilliance, which is exactly what led to Fulham’s opener. Emile Smith Rowe picked the ball up in the Everton half, jinked and shimmied past three challenges and created a chance for team-mate Iwobi.
The Nigerian still had lots of work to do and finished with aplomb after a well-hit drilled effort sailed past Pickford, leaving the England No 1 unable to get down quickly enough. A respectful celebration followed by former Evertonian Iwobi, though those in the away end were in delirium.
It felt then that the Cottagers were heading towards another victory to keep up their fine start to the season. They have only lost three times – to Manchester United, Manchester City and Aston Villa – and Silva’s men would have been only looking upwards in the league table.
But Dyche had some aces left up his sleeve and made some bold switches. Defender Michael Keane was sent up front to play alongside substitute Beto, and the Toffees started to bombard the Fulham penalty box with crosses.
With seconds remaining, one of those deep balls from Iliman Ndiaye – a fan favourite that always seems to make things happen when he is in possession – found Ashley Young at the back post and he helped it back across to Beto to equalise.
‘It means too much for me,’ said Beto, 26. ‘I work hard and even if I don’t play I still work hard. I put my head up every week and try to get better. For me this goal means too much. It’s emotional for me. It was hard, well hard. These last weeks were really difficult for me.’
