The second Battle of Gettysburg ended up won thanks to a pair of flank attacks. Despite Fulham taking an early lead in a match that was billed - in the USA, at least - as a showdown between Landon Donovan and Clint Dempsey, the hosts put in a fine performance to come back in what was ultimately a comfortable win.
Everton Vs. Fulham, 2012 FA Cup Round 4: Toffees Come From Behind To Win 2-1
Things looked like they weren’t going to go too well for the Toffees when Donovan forgot about defending early on, allowing his man to blow past him and Fulham to rip open the heart of the Everton defence. The ball ended up getting cut back for Damien Duff, and the Irish winger’s goal-bound shot was blocked by Johnny Heitinga, which would have been good defending if not for the centre back using his hands to do so.
Up stepped Danny Murphy to dispatch the ball beyond Tim Howard and give the visiting Cottagers a 1-0 lead. While the situation seemed to be fairly bad news for Everton, they soon rallied, and Donovan redeemed himself by racing up the right wing and flinging in a pinpoint cross for Denis Stracqualursi to nod beyond David Stockdale for his first Everton goal.
A similar setup produced Marouane Fellaini’s winner, with Donovan (who won his battle against Dempsey pretty emphatically) again the architect, crossing for the giant Belgian to cushion the ball into the back of the net. By this point, Everton were in more or less total control, and the only real threat to Howard’s goal was a Bryan Ruiz snapshot which fizzed barely wide.
Tim Cahill hit the crossbar in the latter stages of the match, but David Moyes and company won’t be ruing the miss too much - after four minutes of stoppages, Howard Webb blew his whistle and Everton ended up 2-1 winners.
See More:
