Leno’s own goal helps Everton beat Fulham
Fulham 1Mykolenko (OG, 18′)
Everton 2Dewsbury-Hall (75′)
Leno (OG, 83′)
Fulham suffered a sickening home defeat as Everton came from behind to beat them at Craven Cottage with the help of an own goal by keeper Bernd Leno.
Vitalii Mykolenko’s own goal opened the scoring but he atoned for his error by setting up Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall’s second-half equaliser.
And Leno flapped at Dewsbury-Hall’s late corner, touching the ball into his own net under pressure from Jake O’Brien.
Fulham led after a pulsating first half in which Everton hit the post and the hosts were then denied by a goalline clearance before going in front and twice hitting the bar before the interval.
After Everton defender O’Brien headed against the woodwork early on and then headed Sander Berge’s effort off the line, Fulham scored somewhat fortuitously.
After Alex Iwobi got to Samuel Chukwueze’s chip into the box but was challenged by James Tarkowski, Ryan Sessegnon pounced on the loose ball and laid it across to Raul Jimenez. In trying to block the striker’s side-footed shot from near the edge of the six-yard box, Mykolenko inadvertently diverted it past keeper Jordan Pickford.
Fulham dominated the rest of the half, with Emile Smith Rowe’s curler and Chukwueze’s 30-yard piledriver hitting the bar.
Had they managed to score a second goal during that spell, the result would probably have been very different.
Everton were better in the second half, though, and Thierno Barry and Tarkowski went close to equalising with headers, before Mykolenko did superbly on the left and squared the ball for Dewsbury-Hall, who fired into the bottom corner.
That galvanised the visitors – and Leno’s blunder then handed them the points.
Fulham: Leno, Castagne (Tete 83), Andersen, Cuenca, Sessegnon, Berge, Iwobi, Smith Rowe (Bobb 83), Wilson, Jimenez (Muniz 75), Chukwueze (Kevin 75).
Subs not used: Lecomte, Bassey, Robinson, Reed, King.
