Everton 1, Fulham 0: Pick your man of the match

Fulham twice struck the woodwork in a nervy second half, but David Moyes made a series of ambitious second half substitutions and was rewarded when Saha scored the Blues' second late matchwinner in a week.

Andy Johnson had been the old boy expected to make an impact against his former club - and he received a warm ovation both before and after the match from the home fans.

But it was Saha who proved the nemesis for his old club.

Everton had chosen to attack the Gwladys Street End in the first half, with Mark Schwarzer blinking into the strong November sunshine.

But he wasn't troubled often enough.

Steven Pienaar placed a stooping header straight at the Fulham keeper, he dived to parry a free-kick from Arteta which deflected off Danny Murphy's heel, then was saved by his goalpost.

Marouane Fellaini has already plundered three goals in his last four appearances, and he was the width of the woodwork away from making it four in the 27th minute.

Arteta slipped a short pass to him on the edge of the Fulham penalty area and he drilled a low drive which bounced off the base of Schwarzer's right hand post.

The visitors, spurred on by 175 travelling fans, were always ambitious, though.

Andrew Johnson received a warm ovation from the Everton fans on his first return to Goodison since his £12m summer switch.

And he thanked them after 31 minutes when Tim Howard and Bobby Zamora collided chasing Jimmy Bullard's cross and the ball broke at the striker's feet on the edge of the six yard box.

It was a sharp chance, but he got the ball trapped under his feet and before he could hack it out he was closed down by a posse of Blues defenders.

Jimmy Bullard also went close with a couple of long range drives, while Phil Jagielka made a magnificent block to get in the way of a fierce Danny Murphy drive.

Everton started the second half purposefully, Tim Cahill rising to plant an Arteta cross narrowly over the crossbar, but in the 56th minute the home side received a massive let-off.

With Tim Howard now sporting a cap in the bright sunshine, Zamora clipped a cross into the Blues box from the left, Zoltan Gera met it with a header from barely six yards but bulleted his effort against the crossbar.

Everton clearly needed a boost, but when boss David Moyes made a switch on the hour it took everyone by surprise.

Striker Louis Saha was brought on, but with Cahill looking short of match sharpness, it was Marouane Fellaini who was withdrawn.

The big midfielder received an enthusiastic reception from the home crowd, but there was precious little else to rouse them as Everton continued to look blunt.

In fact it was the visitors who were denied by the woodwork again with 19 minutes remaining.

Jimmy Bullard was given a free-kick opportunity from 20 yards after Yobo upended Johnson, and Howard did well to fling himself to his right and parry the midfielder's curling effort.

But the ball dropped kindly for Zamora who scuffed a left-footed shot back across the goal, against the inside of the post and back out for Lescott to hoof clear.

With Moyes desperate for inspiration he made another switch 15 minutes from time.

Steven Pienaar had not been moving freely since being on the receiving end of a heavy challenge 20 minutes earlier and he was replaced by Anichebe.

The youngster offered width down the right, but no more creative inspiration

In fact the closest Everton came to a goal was when Tim Howard's mighty clearance downfield bounced once, was helped into the net by Yakubu, but not before he had nudged the Fulham keeper off balance.

James Vaughan was thrown on seven minutes from time as Everton became increasingly desperate and they finally made the breakthrough four minutes from time.

In a rare flash of creative quality, Leon Osman curved in a beautifully inviting cross from the right and substitute Saha rose to plant a ferocious header past the flailing Schwarzer.

History suggests that whenever these two sides meet, the home team always emerges victorious.

The Blues haven't won at Craven Cottage since 1966, while Fulham's pointless run in league games at Goodison stretches back to 1959.

But they came agonisingly close to ending that record until Saha's decisive intervention.


EVERTON (4-4-1-1): Howard, Neville, Jagielka, Yobo, Lescott; Pienaar (Anichebe 75), Osman, Fellaini (Saha 60), Arteta; Cahill; Yakubu (Vaughan 83). Unused substitutes: Nash, Hibbert, Baines, Rodwell.
FULHAM (4-4-2): Schwarzer, Pantsil, Hughes, Hangeland, Konchesky; Davies (Nevland 89), Bullard (Baird 83), Murphy, Gera (Dempsey 87); Johnson, Zamora. Unused substitutes: Zuberluher, Gray, Stoor, Andreasen.
Referee: Lee Mason.

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