SOCCER/Everton 4 Fulham 1:Mikel Arteta dismantled Fulham almost single-handedly last night with a virtuoso performance that inspired Everton to an emphatic victory which leaves David Moyes's team well placed for European qualification via the Premiership.
Although the Spaniard failed to score himself, the former Rangers midfielder had a hand in all four goals as Everton overturned Carlos Bocanegra's first-half header to leave Chris Coleman's team deep in relegation trouble, four points clear of the bottom three.
Everton's four-match unbeaten run going into this game had placed them firmly in the pack of those chasing a European place, so the sight of the Fulham team bus arriving would have done nothing but bolster hopes of edging closer to Uefa Cup football next season. If Fulham were to admit to having a bogey ground, Goodison would be it. The London club have still failed to take a point from the blue half of Merseyside since a 0-0 draw in September 1959, a run of 13 league games.
Fulham's bright start to the game, perhaps a result of Charlton's earlier draw away to Manchester City, which heightened relegation fears at Craven Cottage, suggested the dismal run at Goodison would finally come to an end.
Alexei Smertin's early tester for the goalkeeper, Tim Howard, a curling effort from 20 yards, showed that Fulham meant business and, although Arteta responded within 60 seconds by forcing Antti Niemi to keep out a dipping volley, it was the visitors who initially carried the greater threat.
Indeed, after seeing their captain, Michael Brown, aim another long-range strike wide on 19 minutes, Fulham deservedly took the lead three minutes later when non-existent marking in the six-yard box allowed Bocanegra to head home Simon Davies's corner.
Moyes's team are nothing if not spirited, though, and it was appropriate that they equalised three minutes later through Lee Carsley, the battle-hardened midfielder sporting a wide bandage to protect a gashed eye following a clash of heads with Brian McBride. Having been picked out on the edge of the penalty area by Arteta, Joleon Lescott crossed for Carsley to stab the ball past Niemi from 10 yards and claim his first goal for almost two years.
Falling behind worked wonders for Everton, but Fulham's reaction was similar to Superman's when handed a lump of kryptonite. Coleman's team conceded too much space, lost their shape and predictably, on 34 minutes, Alan Stubbs outjumped Bocanegra to head Arteta's free-kick past Niemi. Having got his hands to the ball, Niemi ought to have kept it out.
Hope was beginning to evaporate in the nine-tenths empty Fulham enclosure and it disappeared completely when James Vaughan, having missed a sitter and then hit the post, scored Everton's third with a clipped effort from Arteta's cross in first-half stoppage-time.
Arteta also teed up a fourth goal when he laid the ball off for the substitute Victor Anichebe.
With their European rivals Bolton next up on Monday, Everton's European ambitions may be within touching distance if they can claim another win.
Guardian Service
EVERTON: Howard, Hibbert, Yobo, Stubbs, Lescott, Osman, Carsley, Neville, Arteta (Naysmith 82), Vaughan (Anichebe 78), Johnson (Beattie 82). Subs not used: Ruddy, McFadden.
FULHAM: Niemi, Volz, Knight, Bocanegra, Rosenior, Routledge, Davies, Brown, Smertin, Radzinski (John 60), McBride, John (Helguson 71). Subs not used: Lastuvka, Christanval, Dempsey.
Referee: D Gallagher (Oxfordshire).
