Everton have taken a 1-0 lead into half time of their Premier League clash with Fulham this afternoon courtesy of a Steven Pienaar strike.

The hosts almost broke the deadlock after just three minutes when Marouane Fellaini rose highest in the box to nod goalwards, but Mark Schwarzer was equal to it.

They wouldn't have to wait too much longer to find the opener, however, as Pienaar gave his side the lead just 10 minutes later. A slick move from the Toffees resulted in Seamus Coleman cutting the ball back to the South African, who slammed his first-time shot past Schwarzer.

It should have been 2-0 shortly before the break when some more good build-up play saw Fellaini through on goal, but the Belgian couldn't steer his effort on target when he should have scored.

Fellaini came close again just minutes later when he latched on to Leighton Baines's cross, but this time Schwarzer was needed to push the ball away.

Mladen Petric almost grabbed an equaliser just before half time when he looked to get on the end of a Kieran Richardson cross, but the ball eluded him and he couldn't reach it to tap in.