Duff the hero as Fulham seal comeback
FULHAM boss Roy Hodgson heaped praise on new signing Damien Duff after his winner put paid to Everton at Craven Cottage.
The Toffees took a first-half lead through Tim Cahill before Paul Konchesky equalised just after the break.
The game looked set to end to end in a draw until 11 minutes from time, when Republic of Ireland international Duff cut inside Leighton Baines and fired low past Tim Howard for his first goal since his £4m move from Newcastle.
“It was a wonderful goal and he played well throughout the game,” Hodgson said.
“His crossing was good and it was nice to cap his second home game with a goal. It’s important when you move clubs to show the fans immediately what you can do. Damien is a goalscorer and it’s nice to have players like him and Clint Dempsey and Simon Davies who can support Andrew Johnson up front.”
Australia midfielder Cahill’s header from Baines’ 33rd minute set-piece gave the Toffees a deserved lead, only for full-back Konchesky to restore parity 12 minutes into the re-start with a deflected shot from a half-cleared free-kick.
Everton were then hit by captain Phil Neville being carried off on a stretcher following a tackle by Fulham midfielder Dickson Etuhu. Duff took full advantage by lashing home a 22-yard effort to give the Cottagers their first win since the opening weekend of the season.
Toffees boss David Moyes, however, was unhappy with Etuhu’s tackle on Neville.
Moyes said: “It was a bad miss for the referee to miss that. In the football we play now it doesn’t go on and I thought it warranted a free-kick and a yellow card.
“The first half was quite tight, we might have shaded it a bit but credit to Fulham they did much better in the second half and we dropped.”