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Live Blog
Fulltime Thoughts - Simply not good enough from Everton, and a relegation battle that could come down to the very last game remains a real possibility.
90+6’ - Boos ring out at Goodison as Everton lose 3-1 here against former manager Marco Silva’s Fulham. Results elsewhere mean the Toffees stay in 17th place, but Crystal Palace, Wolves and Bournemouth all pull away with wins.
90+2’ - Fulham have seen more of the ball in time added on, which should tell you everything you need to know about Everton’s energy here.
90’ - Six plus minutes to be added on here.
89’ - James goes into space and his shot/cross goes parallel across the goalline and the Blues survive.
Now Simms holds up the ball, it comes to Garner outside the box and his shot goes just wide of the post. Almost capped off his debut start with a goal.
85’ - This game is just petering out to nothing now, which is exactly what Fulham want.
The Blues are certainly making it very hard to save themselves this season.
80’ - Mykolenko with a strong sliding challenge is given a booking, would not have been surprised to see a different colour of card handed out.
78’ - Fulham corner, Everton cannot clear and James with a shot goes wide. The Blues simply cannot clear their lines.
Results elsewhere are not favouring the Blues either, with Crystal Palace, Wolves and Bournemouth all leading too and stretching their lead over the Blues.
75’ - McNeil shot blocked, and Garner’s follow up is straight at Leno.
74’ - Maupay sets Iwobi up for a shot, Leno tips it out for a corner. Ellis Simms runs on for Maupay. Inswinger cleared, ball eventually back into the box, Keane heads it straight at Leno.
71’ - Gray booked for a poor challenge, and now Fulham have a freekick deep in the Blues half. Everton getting played off their home turf by their former manager’s side.
68’ - Long pass finds Dan James hemmed in, but his first touch is brilliant and he works himself enough room to wrong-foot both Tarky and Keane, and his finish is perfect at the far post, beats Pickford easily. No less than the visitors deserve, and it’s 3-1 and likely game over here.
Dyche’s response is... Tom Davies coming on for Gueye. Marco Silva winning the battle of the minds so far.
65’ - Willian has all the space he needs and the visitors win another corner. The Blues clear but lose the ball promptly.
Goodison crowd very unhappy here with how the home side simply cannot hold on to the ball.
62’ - Another slip from Myko and again Fulham attack, this time it’s Willian with a shot blocked, it comes to Palhinha and his shot is blocked too. The Blues are getting swamped.
Now Patterson slips and falls, Willian crosses and Myko can’t clear, Pereira shoots and blocked by Gana for a corner. Everton clear, under siege here, something’s gotta change pretty quickly here.
56’ - Ben Godfrey looks distressed, not sure what the issue is, but he’s walking off with the physios and straight to the dressing room, and there will be a change. Nathan Patterson will be a like-for-like switch there. The commentators are telling us that it’s a concussion substitution following that corner, so the Blues still have five subs.
55’ - Tete wins a corner off Myko. Taken short, Pereira free again on the edge of the box and he fires a shot in that Pickford punches away for another corner. This one is headed over by Tosin.
51’ - Two slips and Fulham lead again. Gray fell over and then Tarky also slipped, and Fulham’s deep cross tucked back across goal by Willian, and Wilson easily slots home with Pickford wrong-footed. The Blues started the half on the front foot too. Shame that, Fulham lead 2-1 now.
49’ - McNeil picking up exactly where he left off in the first half, and his right-footed cross is deflected onto the upright!
47’ - Straight up and Everton have a shooting chance, Myko’s shot is blocked for a corner. Garner’s inswinger is good but Taylor blows for some unseen infringement and Dyche is pretty unhappy. He’s taken off his coat and is patrolling the touchline in his full-sleeves.
46’ - Second half kicks off, no changes from either side. Had hoped that Dyche would hook Maupay for Ellis Simms, but that doesn’t seem to have happened.
Fulham had taken their time coming back out from the dressing room, curious what happened there, and the Goodison crowd is booing them loudly for that delay.
Halftime Thoughts - Fulham started the better side and took the lead, but Dyche’s tactical change has seen the Blues come roaring back into the game. Who makes the next proactive move to win the game though?
45+2’ - Gray certainly feeling it now, and is trying to cut in from the left to shoot, uses the overlapping Iwobi as a dummy and fires from distance, but the ball takes off and goes well wide.
There’s the halftime whistle, a finely-poised half awaits us.
45’ - Chance! McNeil with an inswinging cross from the right, Gray gets a touch on it and the ball bobble past the far post! So close.
Two or so minutes to be added on by Anthony Taylor.
41’ - Ohh Maupay! Iwobi finds him in close quarters, he plays a 1-2 with McNeil and is in space, but delays too long and Leno can charge his shot down. Just won’t happen for him.
More pressure from the Blues and now McNeil wins a corner on the right. He’ll take it himself, taken short to Garner who swings it in, Godfrey’s header on goes wide. Interesting change, because Everton have been 100% inswingers on corners since Dyche took the job.
39’ - That tactical change from Dyche made all the difference, and the crowd are back in it here at Goodison, getting nice and loud!
Everton can break after a full-blooded challenge from Tarky, but Garner too easily pushed off the ball. Making his first start here but needs to do more to protect the ball.
35’ - MCNEIL!! Everton equalize! Gueye wins a solid tackle in the middle and Garner can advance the ball, he finds McNeil streaking down the middle and the former Burnley player tucks it past Leno into the corner, 1-1!
32’ - Chance!! Maupay wins a freekick that McNeil delivers, Tarky puts it on a plate for Maupay and his header is straight at Leno, who parries it away and it falls for Tarky and the defender tries to hoof it instead of placing it, and it goes well over.
Maupay needed to score there, but he might also have been marginally offside. Still, signs of a pulse here.
28’ - From the freekick, Myko gets in the way of Palhinha who puts it over and wide.
Iwobi and McNeil have switched flanks for now, while Gray has come into the middle of the park now.
26’ - Everton simply cannot hold on to the ball and it’s all Fulham right now.
Gueye goes in the book as his foot comes down on Pereira who had beaten him.
23’ - Fulham lead. Harry Wilson cuts in and beats Myko, his curling shot beats Pickford too but comes off the base of the post. The ball is still in the box and Garner’s clearance doesn’t go too far and falls to Harrison Reed, who then tucks it into the opposite corner despite Pickford’s quick recovery. 1-0 to the visitors, and they just about deserve it.
21’ - Fulham looking good on the Everton right, and another Tarky clearance wins them a corner. Willian sends it to the edge of the box for Pereira to shoot, but it’s overhit and as he tries to bring it under control the defence can crowd him and his shot is over.
19’ - Former Evertonian Antonee Robinson on the overlap on the left delivers a cross, James Tarkowski with a poor clearance that falls to Harry Wilson and luckily for the veteran defender, his shot is straight at Jordan Pickford.
18’ - A promising move there comes to nothing as Garner, McNeil and Myko are all capable of delivering from the left, but Fulham are quite capable of managing their own box.
15’ - Dwight McNeil tripped as he looks to shield a bouncing ball, and wins a freekick in line with the box from the left. Deadball specialist Garner to deliver, poor and low, but cleared for a corner.
Garner again, cleared as are the next couple of attempts to put the ball in the box.
12’ - Both teams have been passing the ball around reasonably well to start the game when they’ve had possession, neither really creating anything clear-cut early on though.
6’ - Another very well-worked play for the Blues with quick passes seeing Vitaliy Mykolenko in space, but his cross is low and cleared.
5’ - Shot on target early as James Garner’s pressure allows Gray to steal away and shoot from a narrow angle, but Leno saves it.
2’ - The Blues look to have moved into a 4-4-2 shape with Demarai Gray next to Neal Maupay up top.
1’ - Marco Silva makes his return to Goodison Park, but is still suspended following his sending off in the FA Cup, so he is not in the dugout but in the stands.
The visitors get us underway!
A minute’s silence as Merseyside stands united in memory of the 97 that lost their lives at Hillsborough 34 years ago.
Starting lineups - So it looks like Amadou Onana is one of those carrying an injury as he drops out of the matchday squad, with James Garner and Neal Maupay coming in. How does Sean Dyche line up the Blues today then?
Lineups
Everton
Today's Toffees #EVEFUL pic.twitter.com/dYxfBOKoPn
— Everton (@Everton) April 15, 2023
Fulham
Your Fulham! #EVEFUL pic.twitter.com/BEqi4jZP26
— Fulham Football Club (@FulhamFC) April 15, 2023
Preview
Everton host Fulham on Saturday afternoon going into their last eight games of the season, needing to start picking up some points. The Toffees enter this weekend sitting above the relegation zone on goal difference, and even three points today will not see them gain much ground on the teams ahead of them with AFC Bournemouth, West Ham and Wolves all winning last weekend.
The Cottagers have had an incredible season so far under former Blues boss Marco Silva, but just when they seemed poised for a berth in the FA Cup semifinals and making a run for a European berth, a moment of madness quickly propagated and has caused their season to completely unravel. Lynchpin Aleksander Mitrovic’s suspension along with Silva’s banishment from the touchline have been mostly to blame, with the Cottagers last win coming back in February.
Match Details
Competition: Premier League Matchday 31
Date and start time: Saturday, April 15th at 7:00 a.m. PT / 10:00 a.m ET / 3:00 p.m. BST
Stadium: Goodison Park, Liverpool, England, United Kingdom
Capacity: 39,572
Weather: 54°F/12°C, mostly cloudy, 4% chance of precipitation, 5 mph winds
How to Watch/Listen
TV: Peacock, - United States; N/A - United Kingdom; Fubo - Canada, SuperSport Premier League ROA
Radio: evertontv, BBC Radio 5 Live
Live stream: Fubo, beIN SPORTS CONNECT, DStv Now, RUSH, Hotstar VIP, JioTV
Gamethread: Live blog above starting one hour before game time
*Royal Blue Mersey has affiliate partnerships and may earn commissions for products purchased via affiliate links provided.
Information from LiveSoccerTV.com
Last Meeting
The Blues rode a strong defensive showing to come away from London with a scoreless draw when the two sides met earlier in the season. Before that, Fulham did register a win behind closed doors in their last visit to Goodison Park with Carlo Ancelotti in charge.
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