Craven Cottage was bathed in sunshine and optimism on Saturday afternoon as Fulham stormed out of the gates against Everton—but by full-time, familiar frustrations had returned. Despite a commanding start and a thumping Raúl Jiménez header, the hosts crumbled to a 3–1 defeat, their fourth in five matches, and with it, likely kissed goodbye to any late-season European dreams.
Fulham’s afternoon followed a now-too-familiar script: early dominance, missed chances, and a second-half unraveling that had Marco Silva lamenting “a lack of focus and concentration” once again.
A Goal Worth Cheering, A Lead Not Worth Keeping
Fulham were flying early. The ball zipped, the crowd buzzed, and Emile Smith Rowe—starting in place of the injured Saša Lukić—looked sharp. It was Smith Rowe who conjured the opener: a silky turn and a clipped cross, met with a bullet header from Jiménez that gave Jordan Pickford no chance. Craven Cottage erupted. Fulham fans could have been forgiven for thinking a comfortable afternoon was on the cards.
It should have been. Wilson came close twice—one effort curling just wide, the other denied by a full-stretch Pickford save. Iwobi, on the end of a Jiménez-led counter, couldn’t quite find the top corner. The second goal felt inevitable.
It never came.
Instead, in first-half stoppage time, Everton—barely seen as an attacking force—got level. Vitaliy Mykolenko’s speculative effort took an unfortunate deflection off Andreas Pereira, wrong-footing Bernd Leno. Suddenly, the halftime mood was sour.
From Bad to Worse in Three Minutes
The second half began with Fulham trying to reset, and Sessegnon and Wilson both tested Pickford again. But as so often this season, the defensive frailties were waiting to reappear. And when they did, they hit hard.
Dwight McNeil swung in a corner in the 70th minute that Michael Keane met unmarked at the back post. Three minutes later, Beto found space on the edge of the area and curled a low shot past Leno. From 1–0 up to 3–1 down in a blink.
And that, as Silva admitted post-match, was that.
“We have to blame ourselves. Simple as that,” he told reporters. “We had a dominant first half, but didn’t kill the game. Then we switched off.”
Déjà Vu for Silva and the Fans
The pattern is painfully familiar for Fulham fans. Just like the Chelsea game weeks earlier—early promise followed by late pain. Set-piece defending has turned into a season-defining Achilles’ heel, and the spark that lit up so many matches earlier in the campaign has dulled.
This wasn’t a defeat to a title challenger or an in-form top-six side. This was Everton—safe but sluggish for most of the afternoon—allowed to leave with three goals and three points.
Silva was honest in his assessment. He lamented a recent run that has seen his side drift from the fight for eighth place. “For the last six or seven games, we haven’t been at the level that we should be,” he said. “I believe we deserve a better end, and we have to work for it.”
The Road Ahead
With just two fixtures remaining, Fulham sit 11th on 51 points, four behind Brentford. A top-half finish is still within reach, but it would now take a mini-miracle to crash the European party.
For fans, it’s been a season of highs—wins over Manchester United, Liverpool and Tottenham stand out—but also long afternoons like this one, where potential slips through their fingers like sand.
Still, there’s no denying Fulham have grown under Silva. The foundations are solid. But if this team is to push on next year, those late lapses and defensive wobbles must be addressed.
Next up? Brentford away. And another chance—maybe the last one—to end on a high.
