Everton 1-1 Fulham: Substitute Beto scores injury time equaliser to salvage point for Sean Dyche’s side after Alex Iwobi netted against his former club
Not for the first time, Marco Silva is said to have left Merseyside with a bitter sense of regret and wondering what could have happened.
Five years after being 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 as if he had made victories at Goodison Park a belated habit. But like his tenure at Toffees it ended in disappointment.
Substitute Beto scored his first league goal of the season – and only fourth overall since his £25million move from Udinese last summer – in the fourth minute of second-half stoppage time, allowing Everton to salvage a point and make it five games unbeaten could make for Sean Dyche.
Fulham were the better side and with seconds left on the clock it felt as if Alex Iwobi would be chasing his old club with his manager Silva after his 61st minute strike had put the Cottagers in eighth place and with designs on an unlikely – but not impossible – European push this season.
But in keeping with the theme of Dyche’s tenure, Everton pulled themselves off the canvas just when it felt like they were gone. Boom and bust come to mind. After four defeats at the start of the season, they are now five undefeated.
Substitute Beto celebrates after scoring a late equalizer for Everton against Fulham
Beto’s dramatic intervention in injury time allowed Everton to secure a point
Alex Iwobi had put Fulham ahead in the 61st minute when he scored against his old club
Iwobi found the net to put Fulham ahead at Goodison Park after being set up by Smith Rowe
“Beto’s career has been meteoric,” Dyche said, noting how he worked at a KFC in 2019. ‘It’s a brave header, he throws himself in. As Brian Clough said, sometimes you have to get hurt to score a goal, and he was certainly willing to get hurt to score that goal.’
As a team that seemingly thrives in the midst of adversity – consider how their best runs last season strangely coincided with off-field turmoil and points deductions – it probably helped that the Goodison Park crowd became restless and frustrated by a sub-par performance.
However, this was the reverse of the last two times Fulham came here. Last season the Toffees had been the superior team twice, once in the league and once in the Carabao Cup quarter-final, but finished with nothing. Now it was Fulham’s turn not to claim a deserved victory.
“Sometimes football is difficult to explain,” Silva said. ‘Everything that doesn’t 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 match. Things are hard for all of us right now. The football wasn’t fair tonight.’
Dyche agreed, saying, “I thought we weren’t working on it. Fulham were better than us and we fell short. But football lasts 96 minutes, I asked the boys to show ruthlessness and they did. I put Keano there and it worked.”
Sky Sports’ top players might have spent the first half swearing about a boring affair after televising it ahead of the three late winners or equalizers at the 3pm kick-off at Molineux, Villa Park and the Gtech Community Stadium. However, patience is a virtue, and the late drama was worth the wait.
It was a match lacking in attacking quality that needed a touch of individual brilliance, and that is exactly what led to Fulham’s opener. Emile Smith Rowe picked up the ball in Everton’s half, limped and weaved past three challenges and created a chance for teammate Iwobi.
The Nigerian still had a lot of work to do and finished with confidence after a well-struck effort sailed past Pickford, preventing the England No.1 from getting down quick enough. A respectful celebration followed by former Evertonian Iwobi, although the away side players were in delirium.
Marco Silva was left disappointed as his side failed to achieve victory at Goodison Park
Dominic Calvert-Lewin found the net for Everton, but his effort was disallowed for offside
Smith Rowe tries to get forward for Fulham under pressure from Ashley Young
Everton manager Sean Dyche shakes hands with Fulham boss Marco Silva at full-time
It felt then that the Cottagers were on their way to another win to continue their good start to the season. They have only lost three times – to Manchester United, Manchester City and Aston Villa – and Silva’s men would only have looked up the table.
But Dyche still had a number of aces up his sleeve and made a number of daring substitutions. Defender Michael Keane was sent forward to play alongside substitute Beto, and the Toffees began bombarding the Fulham penalty area with crosses.
With seconds left, one of those deep balls from Iliman Ndiaye – a fan favorite who always seems to make things happen when he is in possession – found Ashley Young at the back post and he helped the ball back to Beto for the equalizer to make.
“It means too much to me,” said Beto, 26. “I work hard and even when I don’t play, I still work hard. I lift 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. The last few weeks have been very difficult for me.’