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David Moyes had made clear before Fulham's visit that the onus for scoring goals must not rest only on the team's strikers. “I demand more goals from my defenders and central players as well,” he stated. The Senegalese midfielder and Michael Keane rose to the occasion, delivering a merited victory over the opposition's toothless team.

Everton’s second win in nine outings was relatively comfortable as Fulham demonstrated why their leading scorer this season is opposition own goals. Aside from a short spell in the second half, the visitors were kept quiet all match by the home team's superior intensity and quality. The Blues had three efforts disallowed for offside, but a poacher’s finish from Gueye in added time before the break and the defender's late conversion made sure there would be no reprieve for the former Everton manager.

No one needed a goal more than Thierno Barry, the Everton forward who had gone 10 Premier League outings without a shot on target after his big-money move from Villarreal and missed a gilt-edged chance to put his team 2-0 up at Sunderland earlier in the week. The 23-year-old directed the earliest chance of the game over Bernd Leno’s goal frame when found by his teammate's fine cross.

The home side dominated the early exchanges and the visiting shot-stopper tipped over the midfielder's 30-yard free-kick, given after the Fulham player was yellow-carded for fouling Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall. Lukic tripped the same player later in the half but the official, the man in charge, correctly waved away home protests for a second yellow. Silva was taking no further chances, though, and substituted the midfielder at the interval.

The striker believed his fortune had finally turned when arriving at the far post to turn in a low cross by Gueye. But the elation of a first Everton goal was wiped out by an assistant referee’s flag. The attacker was offside when going for the delivery, and failing to connect, and the video assistant referee backed up the on-field decision. Barry’s misfortune may have continued in front of goal, but his all-round performance validated the manager's choice to keep the faith. His runs and effort kept busy Fulham’s central defenders and helped give the hosts the edge all game.

The Londoners came into the contest gradually with the Norwegian and the former Everton midfielder Alex Iwobi combining effectively in midfield, but the first half threat from the visitors was minimal. Raúl Jiménez shot tamely at the England keeper when teed up in the box by his teammate and sent a free-kick from a dangerous position directly at the defensive barrier. And that was it.

The Blues, driven on by Dewsbury-Hall and Ndiaye, had a another strike disallowed for an infringement when Leno parried a Keane header and the captain fired home the rebound. The home captain had just strayed beyond the last defender when heading on Jack Grealish’s delivery in the build-up. But Everton’s third attempt past Leno did stand. The left-back floated a perfect ball to the far post when left unmarked on the left flank by Tim Iroegbunam. The defender met it with a powerful nod off the crossbar and, though Iroegbunam mishit the rebound, his teammate the scorer finished from point-blank. The relief inside the ground was evident.

The home side had a third goal ruled out early in the second half after the playmaker found the bottom corner from a further excellent Mykolenko cross. The attacker had laid off the ball into the striker, who was offside when competing with Joachim Anderson for the touch that fell to the Everton midfielder. Everton would have to be patient until the closing stages for the comfort of a two-goal lead. The provider was the architect with a corner that Keane directed over Leno. He did so with the back of his shoulder, and the visitors' protests for handball were dismissed by the video official.

Fulham carried more of a threat following the introductions of the forward, Rodrigo Muniz and Adama Traoré. Pickford made a fine stop with his feet to prevent Muniz scoring with his initial involvement and stopped Traoré with another important stop in the dying moments.