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David Moyes had stressed before the match against Fulham that the onus for finding the back of the net should not rest only on his side's strikers. “I demand more goals from my defenders and central players as well,” he declared. The Senegalese midfielder and Michael Keane rose to the occasion, earning a fully deserved victory over Marco Silva’s toothless team.

The Merseyside club's second win in nine matches was relatively comfortable as the visitors highlighted the reason their top marksman this season is goals gifted by opponents. Aside from a brief flurry in the second half, the visitors were subdued throughout by the home team's greater urgency and quality. Moyes’ team had three goals ruled out for offside, but a close-range strike from the midfielder in first-half stoppage time and the defender's second-half header made sure there would be no reprieve for the former Everton manager.

No one was more in need of scoring as much as Thierno Barry, the Everton forward who had gone 10 Premier League outings without testing the goalkeeper after his big-money move from Villarreal and spurned a clear opportunity to put his team 2-0 up at Sunderland earlier in the week. The 23-year-old headed the first opportunity of the game over Bernd Leno’s goal frame when found by Iliman Ndiaye’s excellent delivery.

Everton controlled the opening stages and the Fulham goalkeeper tipped over the midfielder's 30-yard free-kick, awarded after Sasa Lukic was booked for hauling down the Everton midfielder. Lukic brought down the same player again before halftime but the referee, Andrew Madley, correctly waved away Everton appeals for a second yellow. The Fulham boss was taking no further chances, however, and withdrew the player at the break.

The striker thought his luck had finally turned when sliding in at the far post to turn in a drilled pass by Gueye. But the elation of a maiden strike was erased by an assistant referee’s flag. Ndiaye was offside when going for Gueye’s cross, and missing, and the video assistant referee backed up the on-field decision. Barry’s misfortune may have continued in front of goal, but his overall display justified the manager's choice to stick with him. His movement and work-rate kept busy the opposition's back line and helped give Everton the edge throughout.

The Londoners grew into the game slowly with Sander Berge and the ex-Goodison player the Nigerian combining effectively in the engine room, but the first half threat from the away team was limited. The Mexican striker shot tamely at the England keeper when teed up in the box by his teammate and sent a set-piece from a dangerous position directly at the defensive barrier. And that was it.

Everton, inspired by the midfielder and the forward, had a second goal disallowed for an infringement when the Fulham goalkeeper parried a effort from Keane and the captain volleyed in the rebound. The skipper had moved beyond the last defender when nodding down Jack Grealish’s delivery in the buildup. But Everton’s next effort beating the keeper counted. The left-back delivered a perfect ball to the far post when found in space on the left by the youngster. The defender connected with a powerful nod against the bar and, though Iroegbunam fluffed his lines, his teammate the scorer converted from point-blank. The relief inside the ground was palpable.

Everton had a further effort disallowed after the restart after the playmaker found the bottom corner from another inviting Mykolenko cross. Ndiaye had cushioned the delivery into the striker, who was offside when challenging Joachim Anderson for the touch that reached the Everton midfielder. The team would have to wait until the 81st minute for the comfort of a second goal. Dewsbury-Hall was the architect with a set-piece that the defender directed over Leno. He did so with the back of his shoulder, and Fulham’s appeals for a handball were rejected by VAR.

Fulham posed more danger after the introductions of Josh King, Rodrigo Muniz and Adama Traoré. Pickford made a fine stop with his legs to deny the substitute finding the net with his first touch and denied Traoré with another important stop in the dying moments.