Fulham fail to better tactical Toffees as they shared the spoils in an entertaining but goalless encounter at Craven Cottage

A resilient Fulham outfit were kept at bay by Frank Lampard’s Everton side, as they shared the spoils in an entertaining but goalless encounter at Craven Cottage. The Toffees now remain winless in their last nine visits to the English capital.

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Despite Everton displaying great flair in the opening minutes with some quick incisive passing, it was Premier League surprise package Fulham who threatened outright via Brazilian forward Willian’s shot towards the roof of the net, only to see Jordan Pickford execute a terrific save to thwart the effort away. Perhaps influenced by their inauspicious record of 85 losses in the English capital – more than any other away side from outside London – Everton never really looked confident thereafter despite finding half-chances in the final-third.

Having scored in every home league game this season, the Cottagers looked more eager than ever to inflict the first blow, as they swarmed the Toffees with every opportunity to win the ball. Andreas Pereira fed Tim Ream with a superb cross minutes before HT, but the American center-back sent his header inches wide of the left post to leave the visitors gasping for breath. However, failing to convert their respective chances, both sides went into the break with everything to play for after the restart.

Tormented by the presence of Willian early in the first period, the second started no different for Everton, with the ex-Chelsea winger forcing Pickford into yet another beautiful parry following a fine solo run from the left wing. As the game entered the final 30 minutes, Everton did well to keep Marco Silva’s men at bay, with Aleksander Mitrović throwing away successive opportunities from inside the box, the closest of which flew over the crossbar from just yards out. Astonishingly, the Serbian marksman ended the match with no shots on target from 10 attempts.

Both sides encountered chances to better one another in the final minutes, but neither was sufficiently clinical enough to draw first blood, sharing a first Premier League draw in eight H2Hs, with the last one arriving in 2012. The stalemate hands Everton a first clean sheet in eight away league matches, whereas Fulham register four league matches without a defeat for the first time since February 2021 – continuing their march in the top-half of standings.