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Post by Avinalaff on Aug 25, 2014 13:54:38 GMT
David Unsworth says Everton’s Under-21s will have to be at their best to come away with a result when they visit Fulham tonight. Having opened their campaign with a 3-2 victory over Leicester City, the young Blues head to West London to take on a side well known for their youth set-up. However, the focus for Unsworth and his players is ensuring they are at their very best against the Cottagers. Unsworth told evertonfc.com: “First and foremost we are looking for a performance, as we always are with Under-21 games. “Your performance level always come first and then the result. I am looking for a display that I know the players who feature are capable of. “We are always looking for perfection. We are looking for a clean sheet, we are looking to dominate possession, and we are looking to create and score goals. That never changes.” It is hard to predict what kind of line-up Fulham will put out this evening given just how many youngsters were playing for their senior side in their Championship defeat against Derby County. The likes of the highly-regarded Patrick Roberts – who won the European Championships alongside Blues youngsters Jonjoe Kenny and Ryan Ledson – and Moussa Dembele would most likely have lined up for the Cottagers’ second string tonight, and may still despite their involvement on Saturday. Regardless of who makes the starting line-up, Unsworth is predicting strong opposition. He added: “It’s great for Fulham to have so many youngsters playing in the first team down there. They have a fantastic Academy and are producing a lot of good young talent. “So whatever side they put out, I would expect them to be strong and a real threat to us. We will have to be at our best, in terms of performance, to get a result. “It’s important to string performances together. We are looking for individuals to perform and then collectively to perform. But at the same time it is always nice to win games so we will try to do both.”
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Post by Avinalaff on Aug 27, 2014 1:16:23 GMT
Galloways goal not enough for Blues
Fulham U21s 2-1 Everton U21s
Everton-U21s fell to a 2-1 away defeat to Fulham on Monday evening, despite a spirited performance at Motspur Park.
The young Blues trailed 2-0 when summer signing Brendan Galloway netted his first goal in an Everton shirt, but his headed effort was not enough to salvage a share of the spoils for David Unsworth’s side.
Dismal conditions hindered the attacking displays of both sides, but two solo efforts proved to be enough to secure all three points for the hosts.
Full of confidence from their opening day win over Leicester City last week, the young Toffees started brightly and were unfortunate not to open the scoring in the opening exchanges.
Chris Long, who opened his account for the season last week, was proving to be a handful for Fulham’s backline and could only be denied by smart work from goalkeeper Marek Rodak on two occasions.
The Liverpool-born forward thought he had broken the deadlock just after the half hour mark when Kieran Dowell’s shot was parried by Rodak into the path of the striker. He duly converted, only to be denied by an offside flag.
After dominating the game in the first period, the home side came flying out of the blocks in the second half and were rewarded with a goal for their efforts on 47 minutes.
Defender Ryan Tunnicliffe found his teammate Marcello Trotta and the striker made no mistake in beating his marker and firing past Russell Griffiths to put the home side ahead.
After a cagey ten minutes, Fulham doubled their lead on the hour with a sensational 30-yard strike from midfielder Buomesca Tu Na Bangna.
The tricky winger received the ball on the left flank with seemingly not much in front of him, but after cutting inside, went on to unleash a thunderbolt into the top corner past a helpless Griffiths.
Undeterred by the setback, Unsworth’s began to regain the upper hand and their dominance was rewarded with a goal with 11 minutes remaining.
An in-swinging corner was powerfully met by new defender Galloway and the ball crossed the line despite the desperate efforts of the Fulham defenders to scramble the ball away.
The young Toffees continued to press as they searched for an equaliser and came close when Hallam Hope’s centre evaded substitute Courtney Duffus by a matter of inches with the goal gaping.
Another substitute, George Green, came even closer when his 25-yard left-footed drive crashed off the post in added time, but the ball flew away from danger and the Blues would leave the capital empty handed.
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