Match Updates
Duncan Ferguson misses this one due to a series of niggling injuries which have get him on the sidelines and (perhaps fortunately) unable to continue his growing feud with Fulham's annoyance personified — Luis Boa Morte.
Stubbs also misses out with a heel injury and Campbell is not available to replace the big man, so it's a small pairing up front, with Rooney and Radzinski. Unsworth is back in defence (and as captain) but Pistone must continue alongside him.
Nyarko gave the ball away early with a silly back-heel and Malbrangue capitalize, giving Everton an earlier fright. Nyarko made amends and set Radzinski off but Boa Morte went for the ball and was shown the score in no uncertain terms by a strong challenge from Lee Carsley.
Unsworth had his hands full with Barry Hales and there were early signs that Everton would struggle against the Fulham midfield which was starting to run at Everton with purpose, denying Everton any meaningful possession. Another swarming attack saw Boa Morte fire wide. He then got his retribution on Carsley with a very late challenge, but no booking.
The Fulham pressure continued unrelenting, with a very unsettled Everton side unable to break out during the first 20 mins and a goal very much on the cards. Even in defence, Everton were very shaky, with Unsworth and Pistone at sixes & sevens.
Everton did win a couple of corners, the second being played in properly by Gravesen for once, but it would not fall for Rooney. Later Rooney tried to create something but there was no real movement so he tried an unsuccessful pop at goal. Gravesen then goes for it as he ran at goal, but it was a poor shot too close to van der Sar.
Everton had a torrid first half, really struggling to do anything constructive, with a hopeless midfield unable to supply anything worthwhile to the forwards. Then totally against the run of play, Radzinski got behind them and beat van der Sar with a superb shot that smacked off the post! Moments later, Rooney and Carsley both came close on the Fulham line but failed to score from a golden opportunity.
Sean Davis then ran at Everton and put Martyn under tremendous pressure but Martyn saved superbly with his feet, bringing the half to a pulsating end-to-end close.
Soon after half-time, Kilbane got a potshot that just nicked Voltz and spun off into the side-netting, with Everton showing better intent, turning this into a real cup tie. Nyarko later coupled with Radzinski to create a break but his shot fizzled just wide of the left-hand post.
Finally, the dam broke, with Boa Morte spinning off three Everton players to set up Imamoto for an excellent shot that had Martyn beaten all the way. A difficult task now surely rendered impossible...?
Moyes had made no changes after a poor first half, and now, with the scoreline firmly underlining Fulham's superiority, he continued to wait and wait, with the likes of Nyarko really having trouble. More chances for Fulham ensued and eventually, with 30 mins or so left, Moyes decided to bring on Watson (is he fit?) in place of Nyarko. Franny Jeffers came on as well for Radzinski. Too little, too late? Only time will tell...
The substitutions seemed to give Everton somewhat better shape, but the team had played poorly up until this point. Jeffers got a good ball in to Carsley and his excellent shot was saved low by van der Sar. Another good move by Everton involving Rooney and Kilbane saw Steve Watson lash the ball over the bar.
A scramble in the Fulham saw a half-chance for Rooney but it wouldn't drop for in as Everton pushed in vain for the late, late equalizer that would rescue this tie. Watson Kilbane and Rooney combined for another great chance that went begging as the Fulham def
Then a moment of pure Franny magic. Deep inside the goal area, there was Franny Jeffers to nod a soft one from Rooney just beyond the despairing, scrambling van der Sar! YES, FRANNY!!!!
An unbelievable move right at the death: Rooney set the ball up for Kilbane to send in a cross that Jeffers headed barely wide. Seconds later, Jeffers had a second chance to win the game, with another shot that was scrambled away. An incredible end to normal time, with Everton back to their normal selves, squandering golden chances!
And so.... EXTRA TIME!
Rooney then made a great run and laid the ball on a plate for Jeffers who sliced the ball over the crossbar when it was easier to score! Then it was Fulham's turn to carve Everton apart as the game really opened up in true form for a dramatic FA Cup tie.
More chances followed as the tension built relentlessly, with all to play for. But it was Fulham who scored, with a incisive move that Malbranque finished off after Martyn appeared to have saved it.
Martyn produced terrific saves either side of half-time in extra time to keep Everton in with a shout. But Fulham were fortified by the goal and came at Everton as the tie went on to it's seemingly inevitable conclusion. Martyn was up for some late corners but it wasn't going to be.
A brave rally by Everton, but we were simply not good enough.
Michael Kenrick
Fulham 2-1 Everton
2003-04 Match Reports Index
Match Preview
Are we getting fed up of Fulham or what? It's all the fault of Luis Boa Morte, who started the mass brawl two seasons ago in the first game between the two clubs for a long, long time, after the Crabby Cottagers finally gained promotion to the Premiership following a long and clearly deserved absence form top-flight football.
And now, the Portuguese player has ratcheted up the tension by his highly dubious claims of racist abuse from Duncan Ferguson. Why has it taken him 5 days before coming out with these accusations? Why did he do it in the media? Why was it not reported much sooner to the FA? And why does he think of going public with such claims only after he himself has been charged with misconduct by the FA? The whole thing clearly stinks.
But it all adds to the atmosphere for this critical game, which will strengthened by the presence of more than 3,500 Evertonians, many of whose travel costs have been paid by Everton Vice-Chairman, Bill Kenwright. Let's hope this will be one game in which the crowd really can make a difference.
Everton will need something special, something that has been distinctly lacking in recent games if they are to move on in this competition. Is it goals? Is it midfield possession? Is it simply the ability to play football with a modicum of skill and continuity? It would really be a massive help if they could actually get the ball into the opposition penalty area in a way which creates chances that can actually be converted by the plethora of goal-shy strikers at Moyes's disposal.
But it continues to be the act of getting the ball ion the net which is causing the most problems. It was interesting that Moyes kept Franny Jeffers on the bench against Liverpool — despite him actually scoring a goal against his primary employers in the previous game. So much for goalscorers earning their place in the team... Oh, hang on! David Moyes did say those who score consistently will get selected. So, no changes there, then!
David Unsworth may be back for Everton, and will no doubt play with his heart as ever on his sleeve. While Fulham have lost Luis Saha to Manchester United, but they will have ex-Blue Brian McBride in their front-line. At the weekend, McBride scored again in his second Premiership debut. And again that was against Spurs; and again, it was his USA team-mate Kasey Keller that he beat. Let's hope he's got that whole thing out of his system!
Matchday Stats
This will be the 39th meeting between Everton and Fulham in all competitions, and the 18th away to Fulham. This will also be the 7th meeting between the sides in the FA Cup, and the 3rd at Fulham.
Everton's full record against Fulham is:
P
W
D
L
F
A
Premier League
6
3
0
8
Division One
22
12
5
41
21
Division Two
4
1
FA Cup
7
TOTALS:
38
15
11
58
44
Our record away to Fulham is:
16
2
18
10
27
The last match between the two sides was 10 days ago when the teams ended all-square in the first match at Goodison Park. The winners of this match have been drawn at home against West Ham United.
Everton's last replay in the competition was two years ago when Everton beat Crewe Alexandra 2-1 at Crewe to progress into the Quarter Finals against Middlesbrough which was Walter Smith's last game in charge of the club.
Everton have yet to beat Fulham at Loftus Road, but their biggest victory away to Fulham was 5-1 in Division One in October 1950. Our biggest defeat at Fulham was 0-3 in November 1952 in Division Two.
Everton's paltry three wins at Fulham have seen three different scorelines (1-0, 3-2 and 5-1). Fulham's most common victory is shared between 2-0 and 2-1 with 0-0 and 1-1 being the most common draws.
Everton's record for 4 February is:
9
This will be the first meeting between the two sides on this date. Everton's last match on this date was in 1995 when Norwich City were beaten 2-1 at Goodison Park. The four previous FA Cup meetings on this date have seen Everton victories against Nottingham Forest (4-2 at home in 1893), Liverpool (2-1 at home in 1911) and Sunderland (2-1 at home in 1925), with the other FA Cup match on this date being a 1-1 draw away to Liverpool in 1905.
Milestone's that can be reached in this game:
Steve Flanagan
Report
After the euphoria of (another) injury time equaliser and the drama of extra time, it might be easy to forget how poor we were for 90 minutes tonight. Words cannot begin to describe how bad we were first half. Words can, however, just about describe the improved second half performance : garbage.
First half in particular, we played absolute Conference (never mind Nationwide) football - a heady mix of wayward passes into touch, midfield head tennis and aimless punts to our diminutive strikers. Shocking.
Pistone and Unsworth were all over the place in central defence for the first 15 minutes or so but, to be fair, settled down quite well after that. Remarkably, given the rubbish that we had endured up to that point, we carved out two glorious chances just before half time.
First, Nyarko, who had been abysmal up to that point, played a beautiful through ball to Radzinksi, whose shot came back off the post. Bad luck? Poor finishing? Call it what you will... Next, Radzinski put in a great cross but Rooney, steaming in, managed to head it straight into the ground when he really *had* to score and it was scrambled away. Scandalous.
0-0 HT and mixed feelings. We had been absolutely useless and yet could/should have been 2-0 up.
Second half and more of the same, although Kilbane was unlucky with one shot which was deflected to safety by a great block from (I think) Volz and Nyarko again rose briefly from his slumber to play Radzinski in, only for his shot to creep wide.
Inevitably (and fitting the pattern of recent weeks), after all those fluffed chances, Fulham were going to score. Sure enough, they seized upon a tweedledee/tweedle dumb moment from Nyarko and Gravesen in midfield and the ball was worked to Inamoto, who curled a great shot into the bottom corner.
On came Jeffers and Watson for Nyarko and Radzinski and there was a marginal improvement, with greater movement down the right. Jeffers's movement was as intelligent as ever (I'll come to his finishing later !) and one lovely move saw Watson send him scampering away down the right, only for Carsley to shoot straight at van der Sar from Franny's neat pull back.
We then seemed to lose our impetus and our season (not to mention my will to live) started to ebb away in depressing fashion. But in injury time, came a frantic final bombardment and, in amidst the chaos, Jeffers looped a header backwards, which seemed to take an eternity to cross the line. Cue delirious scenes in the packed away end.
There was still time, however, for Jeffers to repeat his staggering last-minute goal line feat against Chelsea. Wayne turned his man with a genius bit of skill (Cruyff, Schmuyff) and the ball fell to Franny two yards out for the simplest of headers. Remarkably, he somehow contrived to head it back out. One day, we'll look back at it and laugh. Possibly.
All of a sudden, Fulham were on the ropes and so it continued into extra time. Again, though, Franny scooped another simple chance well over the bar. Once more, you just knew we'd get punished and sure enough, the superb Malbranque capitalised on some slack defending and fired home the winner.
Not much to report after that as the stuffing had been pretty much knocked out of us. Rooney seemed to hesitate slightly as he was sent through, allowing Fulham to clear and that was about it.
On the plus side, there was a great atmosphere in the away end tonight — not a hint of the shameful racism of the last visit (well, not in my earshot anyway) unless you count singing "Duncan, Duncan Ferguson", which was a bit dubious given the circumstances.
So, the cup run is dead, long live the relegation battle. With that midfield, it's going to be a *long* three months.
Ratings:
Andy Westlake
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