Fulham vs. Everton

The Blues looked comfortable at half-time when they led through Tim Cahill’s header and dominated every area of the pitch, but Paul Konchesky’s deflected equaliser gave the home team momentum.

Republic of Ireland winger Duff beat Tim Howard with a powerful drive before the end for his first Fulham goal, giving them their first victory since the opening weekend of the season.

Duff’s contribution meant an exciting finale but it was a game short on action before that.

For the home team, the Republic of Ireland winger tried his luck from long range early on but Howard did not have to move to make the save, then Clint Dempsey went wide with a drive from a similar distance.

David Stockdale, the 23-year-old former York and Darlington goalkeeper, was making his debut and was called into action on the quarter-of-an-hour mark when Jack Rodwell’s drive deflected off Aaron Hughes, with the rookie using his knees to block and his team-mates clearing the rebound.

Fulham midfielder Dempsey had a couple of efforts that did not trouble Howard - then the hosts fell behind in the 33rd minute through the familiar sight of a headed goal by Cahill.

Since arriving from Millwall, Cahill has now scored 38 goals for Everton - and exactly half of them have been with his head.

Danny Murphy was booked for a foul in the build-up, with Leighton Baines swinging over the free-kick and Cahill jumping above Dickson Etuhu to head past Stockdale, although he should have been flagged for offside.

The fortuitous equaliser came in the 57th minute when Murphy’s free-kick was blocked by the defensive wall. It rebounded to Konchesky, whose powerful drive deflected in off Sylvain Distin.

Duff’s moment, his first goal since arriving from Newcastle, came 11 minutes from full-time. Zamora headed on a long ball and Johnson tapped out wide to Duff. The Irishman made tracks towards the penalty area, cut inside Baines and unleashed a powerful drive past Howard.

Stockdale saved a Marouane Fellaini header from point-blank range and Murphy cleared Joseph Yobo’s follow-up shot off the line.

Hughes was also forced into a last-ditch tackle on Aiyegbeni Yakubu as Fulham held on.