David Moyes observes Everton improvement after Fulham win

David Moyes appreciated Everton’s sustained spell of dominance over their rival as the Blues beat Fulham 2-0 at Hill Dickinson Stadium to return to winning ways.

It was the Toffees’ first win in the Premier League since their stunning 2-1 comeback win over Crystal Palace at home over a month ago. Sandwiched in between those two wins were defeats to Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur before registering a 1-1 draw with Sunderland at the Stadium of Light.

Goals from Idrissa Gana Gueye and Michael Keane helped Everton climb to 11th in the league table after picking up 15 points in 11 games. The display against Fulham was also especially positive, given Everton’s dominance over the visitors for extended periods.

Bar a brief lull in the middle of the second half, the hosts were by far the better side over 90 minutes and Moyes appreciated the improvement.

"I thought we [played well for longer periods than previous matches] better. They still had a period, midway through the second half but I thought we played well today again. I have to say, I think we've been playing well. We've not been maybe getting the goals to go with it,” he said after the game.

Having praised the performances of summer signings Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Thierno Barry, Moyes added: "Look, we've wanted to try to become a much better footballing team and the players we've brought in have helped us to do that.

"We don't want to lose what we've had – desire, heart, commitment – but I think we had to try to find a way of getting a little bit better at certain things and I think we have to build. Look, I trust the owners will help us in all the windows as we go forward and we'll try to make things better as we go along.

"We need to get people believing in Everton like we do, like the supporters here do, and what we want us to be in the future. To do that, we need to keep picking up the wins and attracting top players like Kiernan and Jack Grealish and players of that ilk. We need to keep attracting that level of players to come to the club."

Gana Gueye was one of the standout players for the Blues, along with Dewsbury-Hall, and he was at the right place at the right time to finish off the move after James Tarkowski’s header hit the crossbar and came back to Tim Iroegbunam, who miscued his initial attempt.

Keane then nodded home the insurance goal nine minutes before time. It was his second goal of the season and he’s been playing at a very high level during this campaign after coming in to replace the injured Jarrad Branthwaite.

Speaking of the loyal Toffees servants, who both penned new deals this summer, getting on the scoresheet, Moyes said: "I was really pleased for them. Gana is actually beginning to become a goalscoring midfield player. I think everybody knows Keano's got the ability to score. But for me, the biggest thing was scoring from a set piece. I talk about it every day. And I think about it every day to try to find ways, how are we going to score? Why are we not scoring? What can we do better to get it?

"But today we got one, thankfully."

 

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