Player ratings: Everton 1-1 Fulham

Marco Silva’s side came away from their final ever league trip to Goodison Park with that all too familiar frustrated feeling after a stoppage time Beto equaliser helped Everton take their share of the spoils. Fulham seem to be coherent and continuously playing good football, while also not looking like they’ve hit second gear and constantly seem to drop unnecessary points.

Bernd Leno

Leno will be absolutely gutted not to have kept a clean sheet, not just because of the late nature of the equaliser, but because of the quality of his own personal performance. I was really impressed by our keeper’s distribution, constantly looking to push his team forward in transition when he could. Handling was brilliant both from crosses and from Everton’s attempts on goal, always holding onto the ball rather than dropping it into any dangerous areas. 7.5/10.

Kenny Tete

Quite a classic Tete performance in the way that he was totally sound defensively, whilst also bombing forward at any given opportunity. Like Leno, he showed an enthusiasm to get his side forward as quickly as possible, including one occasion where a 70-yard run took him from his right back position into a shooting opportunity on the edge of the Everton area. No real weaknesses to point out here. 7.5/10.

Issa Diop

Again, it was nice to see Diop come into the side and prove to be a solid addition to the backline. It could be easy for him to feel irritated that he was dropped after a good start to the season but there was no frustration in this performance. Sometimes his decision-making was slightly hit or miss regarding clearances and long passes, but that’s borderline nit-picking. Showed really good reading of the game on multiple occasions to stop low balls into our box which was vital at times. 7/10.

Calvin Bassey

A fairly quiet, but composed and assured display. Bassey bought an element of leadership to the central defensive partnership which on another day may have been missing with the Andersen suspension. Rarely struggled against a physical presence in Calvert-Lewin and the Everton goal came from the opposite side of the box so there’s no blame to be placed there. 6.5/10.

Antonee Robinson

I rate Jack Harrison quite highly, so to see Jedi consistently beat him in one-on-one duels down his side was extremely impressive. Combined with Iwobi well on the left flank, which sometimes hasn’t been such a fruitful combination this season like the Robinson-Willian partnership so famously was previously. Like the rest of the back four, just a shame that a deserved clean sheet wasn’t eventually earned. 7/10.

Sander Berge

Definitely Berge’s best showing in a Fulham shirt so far and a sign that there is more to come from the Norweigan. While the first half was quite a quiet one, Berge did stoop in to make a vital clearance in his own six yard box from Calvert-Lewin. He really grew into the game in the second half, getting onto the ball more often and making things tick in the middle of the park. It is up to Silva now to put in the right midfield around him to get the best out of his passing and ball carrying abilities. 7/10.

Andreas Pereira

An improvement from the Villa game, but that’s not saying much, we’re talking very minimal improvements. This weird experiment of playing an advanced number 10 in a deeper midfield position has to stop. There is zero positional discipline, zero willingness to track midfield runners and he continues to fail to affect the game in the moments that matter. At least one of his corners found a Fulham shirt, for once. 5/10.

Emile Smith Rowe

When is our ‘star signing’ going to find his way in a Fulham shirt? I really hope it’s soon, because what he did for our goal, beating men in the opposition half and creating dangerous chances for his side is what he should always do. Sadly in this game, it was a one off. For the other 78 minutes in which he played, every first touch and forward pass was borderline Sunday league level, played lethargically and without precision. Another that simply must improve. 4.5/10.

Adama Traore

Looked dangerous in the opening stages, frequently getting the better of Mykolenko, who looked weak at full back for Everton. Resulting crosses were rather hit or miss but sometimes that could be put down to a lack of bodies in the box. Tracked back really well to support Tete when needed, especially important against the dangerous Iliman Ndiaye. 6/10.

Alex Iwobi

Iwobi’s footwork looked incredibly sharp in every part of the pitch, easily beating his opponents in blue time over time. The only issue, especially in the first half, was what came at the end of those mazy dribbles, often with the final pass finding an Everton man. Thankfully, a clinical edge was shown when he needed it most, placing a beautiful finish into the bottom left hand corner of Pickford’s net. As the season progresses, Iwobi seems to be too, good to see. 7/10.

Raul Jimenez

Jimenez’s all round game at the moment is genuinely reminiscent of his prime years at Wolves. He has once again become a striker that opposing defenders are struggling to handle, inside and outside of the box. Raul’s link up play was superb throughout, consistently finding space between Tarkowski and Keane despite being relatively isolated up top. His first touch was always especially impressive, and nearly led to him creating chances for himself out of nowhere. Our Mexican is in fine form. 7.5/10.

Substitutes

Reiss Nelson (68’ for Adama Traore)

Might be the first time I ever give our MOTM to a substitute, but it shows just how exhilarating to watch Nelson was in the closing stages of this game. Whilst some looked too slow on the ball in the final third, Nelson took his man on and beat him every time the ball graced his feet on the wing. He can’t be far off starting with the obvious star quality he possesses. 8/10 – Man of the match.

Harry Wilson and Harrison Reed (79’ for Andreas Pereira and Emile Smith Rowe) did not see enough of the ball in the final part of the game to be fairly assessed. The same can be said for Jorge Cuenca and Rodrigo Muniz (93’ for Alex Iwobi and Raul Jimenez), but it was nice to see both on the pitch.