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David Moyes had emphasized before the match against Fulham that the onus for scoring goals must not fall solely on the team's strikers. “I demand more goals from my centre-halves and central players as well,” he stated. Idrissa Gueye and Michael Keane rose to the occasion, securing a fully deserved victory over Marco Silva’s toothless side.

The Merseyside club's second victory in nine matches was relatively comfortable as Fulham highlighted why their leading scorer this season is opposition own goals. Apart from a brief flurry in the second half, the visitors were contained throughout by Everton’s greater urgency and technical ability. The Blues had three goals disallowed for infringements, but a poacher’s finish from the midfielder in first-half stoppage time and the defender's late conversion ensured there would be no reprieve for the former Everton manager.

No player was more in need of scoring 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 spurned 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 first opportunity of the game over Bernd Leno’s goal frame when picked out by his teammate's excellent delivery.

Everton controlled the opening stages and the visiting shot-stopper tipped over James Garner’s 30-yard free-kick, awarded after Sasa Lukic was yellow-carded for fouling Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall. Lukic tripped the identical opponent again before halftime but the official, Andrew Madley, correctly waved away home protests for a second yellow. Silva was not risking anything, however, and withdrew the player at the interval.

The striker believed his fortune had changed at last when sliding in at the back post to convert a drilled pass by Gueye. But the joy of a maiden strike was erased by an assistant referee’s flag. The attacker was offside when attacking Gueye’s cross, and missing, and the video assistant referee backed up the original call. The forward's bad luck may have persisted in the final third, but his overall display validated the manager's choice to keep the faith. His runs and work-rate kept busy the opposition's back line and helped give the hosts the upper hand throughout.

Fulham came into the contest slowly with Sander Berge and the ex-Goodison player Alex Iwobi working well in the engine room, but the early danger from the away team was minimal. Raúl Jiménez fired weakly at the England keeper when teed up in the box by Iwobi and sent a set-piece from a promising location directly at the Everton wall. That summed up their attacking output.

Everton, inspired by Dewsbury-Hall and the forward, had a second goal chalked off for an infringement when Leno parried a Keane header and the captain fired home the rebound. The skipper had just strayed offside when nodding down Jack Grealish’s cross in the build-up. But Everton’s next effort past the keeper did stand. Vitalii Mykolenko floated a perfect ball to the far post when found in space on the left by the youngster. Tarkowski met it with a thumping header off the crossbar and, though the midfielder mishit the rebound, his teammate Gueye finished from close range. The relief inside the ground was evident.

Everton had a third goal ruled out early in the second half after the playmaker scored from a further excellent Mykolenko cross. The attacker had laid off the delivery into Barry, who was in an offside position when competing with the Fulham defender for the ball that fell to the Everton midfielder. The team would have to be patient until the 81st minute for the comfort of a two-goal lead. The provider was the architect with a corner that Keane glanced over the goalkeeper. He scored with the back of his shoulder, and Fulham’s appeals for a handball were rejected by the video official.

Silva’s side posed more danger after the introductions of Josh King, the Brazilian and Adama Traoré. Pickford saved well with his feet to prevent the substitute scoring with his initial involvement and stopped Traoré with a crucial save in the dying moments.