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David Moyes had made clear before Fulham's visit that the responsibility for scoring goals must not rest only on his side's forwards. “I want more goals from my defenders and midfielders as well,” he insisted. Idrissa Gueye and Michael Keane responded perfectly, earning a well-earned victory over the opposition's toothless side.

The Merseyside club's second win in nine outings was relatively comfortable as Fulham highlighted why their leading scorer this season is goals gifted by opponents. Apart from a short spell in the second half, the away side were subdued all match by the home team's greater urgency and technical ability. The Blues had three efforts ruled out for offside, but a poacher’s finish from Gueye in added time before the break and Keane’s late conversion ensured there would be no reprieve for their ex-coach.

No one was more in need of scoring as much as the young striker, the Everton attacker who had failed to register a shot on target in 10 league games without a shot on target after his £27m summer arrival from Villarreal and missed a clear opportunity to put his team 2-0 up at the Stadium of Light earlier in the week. The 23-year-old directed the earliest chance of the game wide of the Fulham keeper's goal frame when found by his teammate's excellent delivery.

Everton dominated the early exchanges and the Fulham goalkeeper tipped over James Garner’s long-range set-piece, awarded after Sasa Lukic was yellow-carded for fouling Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall. The Serbian brought down the same player later in the half but the official, the man in charge, correctly waved away home protests for a sending off. The Fulham boss was taking no further chances, though, and withdrew the midfielder at the break.

Barry thought his fortune had changed at last when arriving at the far post to convert a drilled pass by his teammate. But the elation of a first Everton goal was erased by an linesman's decision. The attacker was in an illegal position when attacking Gueye’s cross, and failing to connect, and the VAR supported the original call. The forward's bad luck may have persisted in front of goal, but his all-round performance validated the manager's choice to keep the faith. His runs and effort occupied the opposition's back line and contributed to Everton the upper hand throughout.

Fulham grew into the game slowly with the Norwegian and the ex-Goodison player the Nigerian working well in midfield, but the early danger from the away team was limited. Raúl Jiménez fired weakly at the England keeper when set up inside the area by his teammate and sent a set-piece from a promising location directly at the defensive barrier. That summed up their attacking output.

The Blues, driven on by the midfielder and the forward, had a second goal chalked off for an infringement when the Fulham goalkeeper saved a effort from Keane and James Tarkowski fired home the loose ball. The skipper had moved beyond the last defender when heading on Jack Grealish’s cross in the build-up. But Everton’s next effort beating the keeper counted. Vitalii Mykolenko floated a lovely cross to the far post when found in space on the left by the youngster. The defender connected with a powerful nod off the crossbar and, though Iroegbunam mishit the rebound, his midfield partner Gueye converted from point-blank. The sense of release inside Hill Dickinson Stadium was palpable.

Everton had a further effort ruled out after the restart after the playmaker scored from another inviting delivery from the left. The attacker had cushioned the delivery into Barry, who was offside when competing with the Fulham defender for the ball that fell to the Everton midfielder. The team would have to wait until the closing stages for the comfort of a second goal. The provider was the creator with a set-piece that the defender glanced over Leno. He scored with the upper body, and the visitors' protests for a handball were rejected by VAR.

Silva’s side posed more danger following the introductions of the forward, Rodrigo Muniz and the winger. The Everton keeper saved well with his feet to deny Muniz finding the net with his first touch and stopped the speedster with another important stop in the dying moments.