Fulham 0 - 0 Everton

Everton sank to the foot of the Barclays Premier League to complete a miserable week for manager David Moyes.

The Toffees were held to a drab draw at Craven Cottage but despite securing a point, they propped up the table after West Ham beat Tottenham. Having crashed out of the Carling Cup with a midweek defeat at Brentford, they must now wait at least another week to claim their first Premier League win of the season.
Moyes will be the more satisfied manager after Everton controlled long spells of a dire match that did not show any sign of life until the final half hour.
 
Fulham keeper Mark Schwarzer made a fine save from Yakubu in the 78th minute and the later stages were lit up by a duel between the rivals that the Australian clearly won. But the afternoon reflected poorly on both teams with each suffering from their lack of firepower having lost key strikers to the treatment room.
 
Everton made the brighter start but it took a well-timed tackle from their defender Phil Jagielka to deny Clint Dempsey a great chance. Carlos Salcido sped into the box and squared to Dempsey, who was about to shoot from the edge of the area only for Jagielka to intervene. Tim Cahill, back having missed the last two games with a knee injury, became tangled with Brede Hangeland as Everton threatened and then Pienaar saw an attempt saved by Schwarzer.
 
Seamus Coleman was proving influential for the Toffees down the right side as Fulham continued to find themselves on the back foot. Schwarzer had to react smartly to gather a dangerous cross from Phil Neville with Leighton Baines lurking in the six-yard box.
 
A dynamic run from Baines kept Everton on the front foot and Fulham's problems grew when Stephen Kelly limped off to be replaced by Chris Baird. Zoltan Gera opened up his box of tricks to skip past Baines before producing a tame shot that failed to trouble Howard.
 
Better was to come from Fulham when Simon Davies found Salcido, who expertly teed up Dickson Etuhu only for the Nigerian's header to find the arms of Howard. Mikel Arteta, restored to the Everton line-up after missing his side's Carling Cup exit in midweek, tried his luck from long range but the Spaniard's shot drifted narrowly wide of the right post.
 
The impressive Salcido stopped Cahill in his tracks with a textbook challenge as the second half got off to an attritional start. Gera sent a shot across the face of goal and was then replaced by Eddie Johnson as manager Mark Hughes looked to inject some like into his side.
 
Fulham responded by producing a slick move that saw Dempsey force a desperate save from Howard before Duff's follow up was deflected to safety. Everton should have crept ahead when Coleman showed athleticism to find the near post where Yakubu failed to connect while under pressure from Schwarzer.
Dempsey then went close as the match finally began to open up.
 
A brilliant fingertip save of Yakubu's low piledriver showed exactly why manager Mark Hughes battled so hard to prevent Schwarzer from joining Arsenal in the summer. Schwarzer advanced off his line to keep Yakubu at bay once more before Kamara, playing his first game for Fulham since January, saw a weak penalty shout rejected by Howard Webb.
 
Yakubu had two chances to snatch victory but his first effort bobbled agonisingly wide of the right post before he missed a sitter with the last kick of the game.

David Moyes remained stoical after Everton sank to the foot of the Premier League following today's goalless draw with Fulham. "It's one way up now. Someone has to be bottom and it's us at this present time,'' said Moyes. "I don't think we look like a bottom-of-the-league team but we are so we have to get out of it. It's up to us to put it right.

"We just have to keep doing what we're doing. We'll keep playing. There was no lack of confidence from us against Fulham. We tried to do the right things. The spirit's good. The players are all together and are all working for the cause to get a result. My belief is that we have a really good team. That's never changed.''
Strikers Louis Saha and Victor Anichebe are injured and Moyes lamented their absence. "We had lots of possession and we created more chances than Fulham,'' he said. "We had some opportunities later on and one or two in the first half.
 
"I can't come away saying we played badly though maybe we didn't create enough chances. We're lacking in real firepower but you'd have to say we had the best chances in the game but couldn't take them. There's a lack of belief in front of goal. Nothing's going in and we can't even deflect one in at the moment.''
Tim Cahill started after two matches out with a knee injury and Moyes was pleased with his contribution.
 
"Cahill has a bad knee and he did very well to play for us today. We always knew it would be bit of a gamble,'' he said. "He wanted to play and we didn't know how long we'd get out of him. To get an hour was quite good.''
 
Fulham manager Mark Hughes, whose side remain unbeaten in the Premier League, does not expect Everton to be propping up the table for long. "Everton showed today that they're in a false position and it's clear they're a very good side,'' said Hughes.
 
"They're at the wrong end of the table but I don't anticipate that lasting for long. In most of the games I've seen of them on video and TV they've played well and had impact. They've been unlucky not to get more points. They probably just need a win to get them going again. I'd imagine no one in the Everton camp is too concerned.''