Gylfi Sigurdsson goes from zero to hero as Everton beat Fulham
Everton 3-0 Fulham: Two goals from Sigurdsson and another for Cenk Tosun sealed the win
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Your support makes all the difference.If it is true that it is home performances and results that define a manager’s relationship with the club he represents, then this was an important and convincing victory for Marco Silva.
His reign at Everton is only a few months old but he should take heed of the warning signs that ended up undermining three of his predecessors.
Supporter impressions as much as the results of Roberto Martinez, Ronald Koeman and Sam Allardyce explain why Silva is now in place and so, he needs to build a trust.
The quickest and simplest way of doing that is winning at Goodison Park. With Fulham dispatched here, it takes the pressure off Southampton’s visit on Tuesday but only slightly because if Everton lose that one, the reminders about another missed opportunity to claim their first trophy since 1995 will follow and it does not take much for familiar exasperations to return.
There was a moment midway through an anaesthetised first half which summed up the mood that existed until Everton scored, causing everything to change.
Idrissa Gueye was eager to take a quick throw-in. He had been the Everton man on the front-foot, winning tackles and shuffling away from opponents. He looked around, searching for answers but lots of his teammates were out of position following an unsuccessful corner. When Jonjoe Kenny took the conservative though sensible decision to intervene, the Goodison groan came.
Tom Davies was captaining Everton for the first time at home in a Premier League game. As he stood in the centre circle having won a toss which meant Everton would kick towards the Gwladys Street after the break in their truest traditions, he faced the main stand where all of his family were sat. The sense of pride must have been enormous. The game would start and reality returned. The Goodison groan would come for him as well.
There is an expectancy on Merseyside that local players are urgent in everything they do. It had been judged that like Kenny, Davies was not moving fast enough. “Man on,” he was repeatedly instructed by the crowd even though sometimes he had enough time and space to think. “Turn,” he was told, even though sometimes it would have been better to play the way he was facing.
From this uncomfortable basis, Everton would somehow end up winning convincingly. Gylfi Sigurdsson crashed a penalty kick onto the crossbar before he struck Everton’s opener with his left foot from 20-yards, which was a much more difficult skill to execute. Cenk Tosun, on as a substitute, extended the lead with a header from Theo Walcott’s cross and then Sigurdsson would pounce again, sliding a finish past Marcus Bettinelli.
The detail of a clean sheet for the winning team was also significant because it was the first under Silva and the first since April. Amidst the thrill and release of the second half for Everton, it became easy to forget that in the first, Ryan Sessegnon had struck the crossbar for Fulham. Had that gone in, the conclusion to this report could have been very different.
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