Everton were made to pay for a number of missed chances in Saturday’s Premier League opener as they conceded late to suffer a 1-0 loss to Fulham at Goodison Park.
The Toffees had 11 attempts and created the better openings on home soil, but Fulham won it late on courtesy of a close-range finish from Bobby De Cordova-Reid.
Everton were without Dominic Calvert-Lewin through injury, but there was a debut for Ashley Young, while the headline team news for Fulham was the absence from the starting XI of Aleksandar Mitrovic, with the striker being heavily linked with a move away from the club this summer.
Raul Jimenez started following his arrival from Wolverhampton Wanderers, while a strong bench included Andreas Pereira, Willian and new signing Calvin Bassey.
Everton came close to making the breakthrough inside the first minute when Neal Maupay found space inside the box, but the forward whistled his effort just wide of the post.
Fulham goalkeeper Bernd Leno made a big save to keep out an attempt from Abdoulaye Doucoure in the sixth minute, before Maupay was also denied during an open period of the match.
Maupay had another chance in the 33rd minute following smart work from Alex Iwobi, but Leno was on hand to make another save, with the Toffees not making the most of their opportunities.
Michael Keane had the ball in the back of the Fulham net late in the half, but the effort was chalked off for a foul on Leno, with James Tarkowski penalised for backing into the goalkeeper, while there was also a hint of handball from the Toffees centre-back.
Maupay passed up another two chances in the final stages of the first period, and Fulham were extremely fortunate to enter the half-time interval on level terms.
Jimenez’s last piece of action saw him hit the Everton post before Mitrovic was introduced, with the striker receiving a positive reaction from the Fulham fans despite the speculation surrounding his future.
Mitrovic then had an injury scare before eventually signalling that he was fine to continue; Everton had a golden chance to take the lead minutes later through Nathan Patterson, but he somehow struck the crossbar from inside the box after Leno had denied Iwobi.
Fulham ultimately took the lead in the 73rd minute through De Cordova-Reid, who converted from close range after Pereira had picked out his teammate at the far post.
De Cordova-Reid should have doubled the away side’s advantage shortly after, but he somehow volleyed over at the far post following more suspect Everton defending.
Fulham had a late shout for a penalty for what looked like a Tarkowski handball, but the play was allowed to continue, and VAR agreed with the on-field decision.
Tarkowski then headed just wide in the final exchanges, with the visitors holding on to secure an impressive three points in their opening match of the new campaign.
Everton will continue their league season away to Aston Villa next Sunday, while Fulham will take on Brentford at Craven Cottage next Saturday.
