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David Moyes had made clear before Fulham's visit that the responsibility for finding the back of the net should not rest only on the team's forwards. “I expect more goals from my defenders and central players as well,” he stated. The Senegalese midfielder and Michael Keane duly obliged, delivering a fully deserved victory over Marco Silva’s toothless side.

The Merseyside club's second win in nine matches was largely untroubled as Fulham demonstrated the reason their top marksman this season is opposition own goals. Apart from a short spell in the second half, the away side were contained throughout by the home team's greater urgency and quality. Moyes’ team had three efforts disallowed for infringements, but a poacher’s finish from Gueye in added time before the break and Keane’s second-half header ensured there would be no reprieve for their ex-coach.

No player needed a goal more than the young striker, the Everton forward who had gone 10 Premier League outings without testing the goalkeeper after his £27m summer arrival from the Spanish side and missed a clear opportunity to put his team 2-0 up at Sunderland on Monday. The youngster directed the first opportunity of the game wide of Bernd Leno’s goal frame when found by his teammate's excellent delivery.

The home side controlled the opening stages and the visiting shot-stopper pushed over James Garner’s 30-yard free-kick, awarded after the Fulham player was yellow-carded for hauling down the Everton midfielder. The Serbian brought down the identical opponent later in the half but the referee, Andrew Madley, rightly ignored home protests for a second yellow. The Fulham boss was not risking anything, though, and withdrew the midfielder at the break.

Barry thought his luck had finally turned when sliding in at the far post to turn in a drilled pass by Gueye. But the joy of a maiden strike was wiped out by an assistant referee’s flag. The attacker was in an illegal position when going for the delivery, and missing, and the VAR backed up the original call. The forward's bad luck may have persisted in front of goal, but his overall display validated the manager's choice to stick with him. His runs and work-rate kept busy the opposition's back line and helped give Everton the edge throughout.

Fulham came into the contest slowly with the Norwegian and the former Everton midfielder the Nigerian working well in the engine room, but the early danger from the away team was limited. The Mexican striker fired weakly at Jordon Pickford when teed up inside the area by his teammate and put a free-kick from a promising location directly at the Everton wall. And that was it.

Everton, driven on by Dewsbury-Hall and the forward, had a second goal chalked off for offside when the Fulham goalkeeper parried a effort from Keane and the captain volleyed in the loose ball. The skipper had just strayed beyond the last defender when heading on the winger's cross in the build-up. But Everton’s next effort past the keeper counted. Vitalii Mykolenko floated a perfect ball to the far post when found in space on the left by Tim Iroegbunam. The defender met it with a powerful nod off the crossbar and, though Iroegbunam fluffed his lines, his midfield partner the scorer converted from point-blank. The sense of release inside the ground was palpable.

The home side had a further effort disallowed after the restart after the playmaker found the bottom corner from a further excellent Mykolenko cross. The attacker had cushioned the ball into Barry, who was in an offside position when competing with the Fulham defender for the ball that reached the home player. The team would have to be patient until the 81st minute for the security of a second goal. Dewsbury-Hall was the architect with a corner that Keane directed past the goalkeeper. He scored with the back of his shoulder, and the visitors' protests for handball were dismissed by the video official.

Fulham posed more danger following the introductions of the forward, the Brazilian and Adama Traoré. Pickford saved well with his feet to prevent the substitute finding the net with his initial involvement and stopped Traoré with another important stop late on.