Silva: Sigurdsson set a perfect example against Fulham

Marco Silva lauded Gylfi Sigurdsson's performance against Fulham as the perfect example of what he expects from his Everton players.

Sigurdsson missed a penalty midway through the second half at Goodison Park, when the score was 0-0, but the Iceland playmaker recovered to net twice either side of a Cenk Tosun header to secure a 3-0 win.

And Silva, whose side had gone without a Premier League win in four games prior to Saturday's encounter, insists Sigurdsson's display epitomised what he wants to see from his team.

"Gylfi is one perfect example [of the attitude I want from Everton]," Silva told the club's official website.

"It is really important to show the type of character that Gylfi has shown. Not just his goals but he pressed and worked really hard after he missed the penalty.

"He won the throw-in. He created that moment, with the one-two with [Jonjoe] Kenny, and it was fantastic finish – he has that capacity. Football was fair to him, because he worked really hard, like all the boys worked really hard."

Everton controlled the second half but were fortunate that Fulham did not make the most of a glut of gilt-edged chances in the first half.

Ryan Sessegnon's strike against the crossbar was the closest Fulham came in that opening 45 minutes, and boss Slavisa Jokanovic lamented the missed opportunities.

"We played acceptably well in the first 45 minutes but weren't clinical enough," he told Fulham's official website.

"We had the opportunity to score the goals, [but] we didn't do it. In the second half, for some reason we didn't reach our level. 

"They had a little bit more power and a little bit more speed to find the way to score three easy goals.

"It's definitely not good news for us - conceding at the beginning of the Premier League so many goals. We must be more clinical and fix this problem at the back."