“I’m very pleased” – Everton boss Sean Dyche delivers verdict on goalless draw against Fulham

Everton manager Sean Dyche has lauded the performance and resilience of his players following Tuesday evening’s entertaining goalless draw against Fulham.

Celebrating his first anniversary as Everton boss, Dyche urged the club to keep pulling in the same direction after putting in another impressive display on the road.

The Toffees barely saw any of the ball, recording only 31% possession, but the Blues were productive in possession, attempting 21 shots on goal while four hit the target.

Taking on a Fulham side that have won six of their 11 home games this season, Everton created plenty of chances while showing defensive resilience, with Jordan Pickford making five saves, including two superb stops.

Ben Godfrey, who has been linked with a move away from Goodison Park this month, was also instrumental to Everton’s clean sheet, making a goal-saving challenge to thwart Willian.

Dyche’s side were wasteful in front of goal after failing to convert any of the five clear-cut chances they fashioned. They finished the game with a 2.15 expected goals tally (xG) while hitting the woodwork twice.

However, they were also lucky to keep a clean sheet after conceding 25 attempted shots, including one crashing off the woodwork, while six hit the target. They also conceded four big chances with an xG of 1.71.

Everton’s gutsy performance was applauded by another sold-out away end at full-time, although failing to pick up a win in west London means the Toffees have dropped into the relegation zone.

“It was a very open game, which we know they are a bit like that on their home patch,” Dyche told Evertontv. 

“With all the limitations in terms of options we had, I’m very pleased to get another clean sheet and another point. We filled our away end again, of course, which is fantastic, and they really got behind the players.

“We need that mentality to stay strong from us and the fans. We stay connected, and we keep taking each challenge as it comes. We’ve had plenty of them in the year I’ve been here – a year today – but we’ve got through them.

“We stay connected, we keep working, the players are giving a lot, and we have to keep doing that as a minimum, then ask for more from each other.”