LONDON // Damien Duff scored his first goal for Fulham as Roy Hodgson's side produced a superb second-half performance to compound Everton's stuttering start to the season. The Irishman, a £4 million (Dh24.5m) summer signing from Newcastle, lashed home from 20 yards with just ten minutes left to complete a fine comeback from the hosts, who were trailing at the interval through Tim Cahill's header before Paul Konchesky levelled the scores. Everton have now lost three of their first four games and are second-from-bottom in the Premier League.
Fulham's hopes were dealt a blow before kick-off when it was revealed goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer had failed to recover from a neck injury, but Hodgson sprung a surprise by giving David Stockdale his first start for the club in place of the more experienced Pascal Zuberbuhler. David Moyes played Brazilian forward Jo up front on his own, with new signings John Heitinga and Diniyar Bilyaletdinov left on a bench worth £50m.
Everton were unfortunate not to take the lead on the quarter hour, with Fulham's goal leading a charmed life as Stockdale turned away Jack Rodwell's deflected shot, before Danny Murphy and Duff threw themselves in the way as first Cahill, then Steven Pienaar seemed certain to score. Cahill then grabbed the opener for Everton after 33 minutes. The Australian is not even six foot high, but is prodigious in the air and he embarrassed Dickson Etuhu - a man four inches taller than him - by beating the midfielder to Leighton Baines' perfect free-kick and guiding a header past Stockdale and into the corner for his first goal of the season.
Despite having first-choice strikers Andrew Johnson and Bobby Zamora back from injury Fulham were toothless up front and they had to look elsewhere for inspiration. Konchesky, the left-back, had only scored once before for the club but was perfectly placed to level on 57 minutes, firing home from 20 yards after Murphy's free-kick had been blocked, although replays showed that Sylvain Distin had unwittingly deflected the ball past his own goalkeeper.
And it went from bad to worse for Everton when their captain, Phil Neville, was taken off on a stretcher with what appeared to be a serious injury following a challenge with Dickson Etuhu. But the final agony was delivered by Duff, whose fine finish ensured the points stayed in west London. @Email:sports@thenational.ae