Marco Silva has known nothing but success since returning to Goodison Park with Fulham. He was on course to maintain a 100 per cent record at the club that released him in December 2019, and Alex Iwobi also returned to Everton as substitute Beto saved an unlikely point for Sean Dyche’s side.

Iwobi lit up an otherwise forgettable evening with a superb opener from Emile Smith Rowe. That was just Fulham’s reward and it looked like they were set to extend their winning streak at Goodison until Beto, part of an unlikely double at the helm at Everton with Michael Keane, denied the rarely uneasy Bernd Leno with a header in the Defeated in the 94th minute. Fulham have certainly had Everton’s number in recent years.

After losing on their first 14 visits to Goodison Park, the Cottagers had won their last three league games here as well as a Carabao Cup tie on penalties. Silva’s side once again made life difficult for the hosts, dominating possession in the early stages and blocking Everton’s supply lines, but in truth it was an uphill battle in the first half hour. The only notable incident was a shot from Raúl Jiménez that was too weak to cause serious trouble for Jordan Pickford.

Fittingly, it was a mistake rather than a moment of quality that breathed some life into the game. Vitaliy Mykolenko gifted possession to Andreas Pereira on the edge of the penalty area, allowing Jiménez to release Adama Traoré into the space vacated by Everton’s left-back. Pickford parried Traoré’s angled shot but Fulham kept the pressure on, Pereira crossed to Jiménez and the Mexican striker headed across goal to Smith Rowe. The summer newcomer sent a clumsy volley high over the crossbar from close range.

Everton thought they were ahead a few minutes later when Idrissa Gueye’s long-range shot hit the underside of Leno’s crossbar and Dominic Calvert-Lewin converted the rebound. However, it was immediately ruled offside and the assistant’s decision, which was close, was upheld by the VAR. The Fulham goalkeeper then parried a header from Dwight McNeil, while at the other end, former Everton midfielder Iwobi shot over from a deep cross from Traoré.

Both McNeil and Iwobi should have scored, but the latter made amends convincingly to give Fulham a deserved lead. Not that it was an eye-catching performance for the visitors. It just wasn’t as bad as Everton. A free-kick from McNeil flew straight into the arms of Leno and a shot from Jack Harrison, fired into space on the right, summed up the efforts of Dyche’s team.

But the breakthrough had no connection to the occasion. Smith Rowe orchestrated this with a blistering run from the halfway line that earned him three half-hearted tackles against Everton. The Fulham playmaker threw a pass inside to Iwobi, who was treated just as casually by the Everton defense, who pulled back and encouraged their former teammate to shoot. Iwobi equalized with a precise, powerful effort that was placed at the near post by Pickford. The midfielder kept his celebrations against his old club to a minimum, but a beaming grin showed what the good finish really meant.

Fulham appeared to be hoping for a well-deserved win to regain their momentum after defeats to Manchester City and Aston Villa, and Everton struggled to find a response. But four minutes into stoppage time, with the home crowd groaning at Dyche’s substitutions and her team’s lack of ideas, the home team conjured up a most unlikely reprieve.

Iliman Ndiaye was one of the few in royal blue to trouble the Fulham defense and it was his deep cross that led to the equaliser. Ndiaye’s ball was sent back over goal with a brilliant volley by Ashley Young, and replacing Calvert-Lewin was Beto, who headed his first league goal of the season. Everton’s unbeaten run stretched to five games until his death, but for Silva this will have felt like a defeat.