Late goals from former-Fulham striker Louis Saha and Jack Rodwell secured victory at Craven Cottage.

Everton opened the scoring after just three minutes when new-signing Royston Drenthe – on only his first Premier League start – picked up the the ball from Rodwell and lashed a curling, long-range effort into the bottom corner of Fulham’s goal.

Maroune Fellaini, Apostolos Vellios and Jack Rodwell all had excellent chances to put the Toffees 2-0 up, however, despite being firmly in control, Everton failed to add to the scoreline before half time.

Fulham substitute Bryan Ruiz made an immediate impact when the 26-year-old found the equalizer, superbly chipping the ball over Tim Howard from inside the box. The £10m signing could have scored his second later on but his low effort well saved by Everton’s American stopper.

Both sides pushed for the win, with Fulham squandering a golden opportunity to make the scoreline 2-1 when Bobby Zamora lashed the ball over the bar after rounding Tim Howard.

Everton had showed added impetus after the substitutions of Coleman and Cahill, but it was earlier substitute Saha who scored the winner with a clinical finish that went in off the post.

Drenthe and Rodwell were particularly influential in orchestrating the victory, with the latter wrapping up the win deep into injury time with a well-struck shot from distance.

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