Everton 0-1 Fulham

Bobby De Cordova-Reid’s second half goal saw Fulham’s 2023/24 Premier League campaign get off to the perfect start at Goodison Park.

Everton had by far the better of the first half, with the Whites indebted to the imperious Bernd Leno in goal.

We were much improved after the break, coming close to a breakthrough when debutant Raúl Jiménez struck a post.

That proved inconsequential, though, with De Cordova-Reid gleefully tapping home following good work from his fellow substitutes Aleksandar Mitrović and Andreas Pereira.

Neal Maupay was presented with a good chance within the opening 32 seconds when an attempted Tim Ream clearance was blocked, inadvertently sending the striker in one-on-one. He caught his shot well as he drilled across Leno, but thankfully dragged it marginally wide of the far post.

Fulham responded with a corner routine straight from the training pitch, but Tom Cairney volleyed over from Willian’s delivery.

It was a lively start to proceedings, with Everton gifted another huge chance inside the first five minutes when an unfortunate slip from Ream allowed Abdoulaye Doucoure to burst through. The odds were in the midfielder’s favour, but Leno made himself big to make a top save.

The better chances were falling the way of our hosts, and we had our big German to thank again in the 34th minute for keeping the scores level. Leno had no right to keep out Maupay’s effort from point blank range, but somehow he managed it.

The Toffees did then have the ball in the net when Michael Keane was left with a simple finish after Leno dropped a catch, but he only did so having been fouled and Fulham were duly awarded a free-kick instead.

A brilliant run from Alex Iwobi saw him gobble up about 60 yards of pitch before finding Amadou Onana who let fly from the edge of the box, but thankfully straight at Leno.

Leno was having a fantastic game, next denying Maupay again after the Frenchman was squeezed through, before Nathan Patterson fired over as Everton looked to take a goal advantage into half-time.

Another Maupay chance arrived in the 45th minute, but he did not get a good connection and Leno was able to make one of his more routine saves of the afternoon.

Marco Silva will have asked for more attacking intent from his side after the restart, and we did muster the first attempt of the second half, though Saša Lukić’s volley was always heading wide following a Harrison Reed corner.

We then came as close as anyone had all game when Raúl’s clever swivelled snapshot had Jordan Pickford beaten, only to come back off the inside of the post, before De Cordova-Reid’s follow-up flew over.

Iwobi had been a lively customer throughout, and midway through the half he worked a yard of space before bending a strike towards the far corner which would have found the net but for the reach of the excellent Leno. The loose ball dropped kindly for Patterson but he could only smack the rebound against the crossbar.

Harry Wilson then went on a solo mission to break the deadlock, with his tidy run infield followed up by a powerful strike that cleared the target by a couple of yards.

The opener was imminent, though, and it was a move made and finished by three of our substitutes. Mitrović’s vision allowed him to slip Andreas in – he had a stretch on to reach it but managed to hook the ball across the face to De Cordova-Reid who was never missing from close range.

De Cordova-Reid could have doubled the lead soon after when Wilson’s beautifully flighted cross spotted his far post run, but it was a difficult one to take and he could only volley over.

Leno hadn’t been called upon as often in the second period, but he was still at his best when he was, needing to be alert to deny Iwobi at the back stick with five to play.

Mitrović then had a chance to wrap things up when he brought a deep Kenny Tete cross down on his chest, only to fire straight down the throat of Pickford.

The big man then thought he should have had a penalty when he smashed a rocket into an Everton body – the officials deciding, though, that it did not hit a hand.

There was a heart in mouth moment in the 90th minute when James Tarkowski had space in the box and was picked out by a long ball. He had time to choose his spot but thankfully planted his diving header wide, meaning all three points would be coming back to SW6.