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David Moyes had stressed before Fulham's visit that the onus for scoring goals should not rest only on his side's strikers. “I expect more goals from my centre-halves and central players as well,” he insisted. The Senegalese midfielder and the English defender responded perfectly, delivering a merited victory over the opposition's toothless team.

Everton’s second win in nine outings was largely untroubled as Fulham showed the reason their top marksman this season is goals gifted by opponents. Aside from a brief flurry in the latter period, the visitors were kept quiet throughout by Everton’s greater urgency and quality. Moyes’ team had three goals ruled out for infringements, but a close-range strike from Gueye in first-half stoppage time and the defender's late conversion made sure there would be no reprieve for the former Everton manager.

No player needed a goal as much as the young striker, the Goodison Park attacker who had gone 10 Premier League outings without a shot on target after his £27m summer arrival from the Spanish side and spurned a clear opportunity to put his team 2-0 up at the Stadium of Light on Monday. The 23-year-old directed the first opportunity of the game wide of the Fulham keeper's crossbar when found by Iliman Ndiaye’s excellent delivery.

Everton dominated the early exchanges and the Fulham goalkeeper tipped over James Garner’s 30-yard free-kick, awarded after the Fulham player was yellow-carded for fouling Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall. The Serbian tripped the identical opponent again before halftime but the referee, the man in charge, correctly waved away home protests for a second yellow. Silva was not risking anything, though, and substituted the player at the interval.

Barry thought his fortune had finally turned when arriving at the far post to turn in a low cross by his teammate. But the joy of a maiden strike was erased by an assistant referee’s flag. The attacker was in an illegal position when going for Gueye’s cross, and failing to connect, and the VAR supported the on-field decision. Barry’s misfortune may have continued in the final third, but his all-round performance justified the manager's choice to stick with him. His movement and work-rate occupied Fulham’s central defenders and helped give Everton the edge throughout.

The Londoners came into the contest gradually with the Norwegian and the former Everton midfielder Alex Iwobi working well in midfield, but the first half threat from the away team was minimal. Raúl Jiménez shot tamely at Jordon Pickford when teed up inside the area by Iwobi and sent a free-kick from a dangerous position directly at the defensive barrier. That summed up their attacking output.

Everton, driven on by the midfielder and Ndiaye, had a second goal disallowed for an infringement when Leno saved a Keane header and James Tarkowski volleyed in the rebound. The home captain had just strayed beyond the last defender when heading on Jack Grealish’s cross in the buildup. But the team's third attempt beating Leno counted. The left-back delivered a perfect ball to the far post when left unmarked on the left flank by the youngster. The defender connected with a thumping header off the crossbar and, though the midfielder mishit the rebound, his midfield partner Gueye finished from close range. The sense of release inside Hill Dickinson Stadium was palpable.

Everton had a third goal ruled out early in the second half after Dewsbury-Hall found the bottom corner from another inviting Mykolenko cross. Ndiaye had cushioned the delivery into the striker, who was offside when competing with Joachim Anderson for the ball that reached the home player. Everton would have to wait until the 81st minute for the comfort of a two-goal lead. The provider was the architect with a corner that Keane directed over the goalkeeper. He scored with the upper body, and Fulham’s appeals for a handball were rejected by the video official.

Fulham posed more danger following the substitutions of the forward, Rodrigo Muniz and Adama Traoré. Pickford saved well with his feet to prevent the substitute scoring with his initial involvement and stopped the speedster with another important stop in the dying moments.