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David Moyes had emphasized before Fulham's visit that the onus for scoring goals must not fall solely on his side's strikers. “I expect 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 team.

The Merseyside club's second win in nine outings was relatively comfortable as Fulham highlighted the reason their top marksman this season is goals gifted by opponents. Aside from a short spell in the latter period, the away side were subdued all match by the home team's superior intensity and technical ability. Moyes’ team had three efforts ruled out for infringements, but a close-range strike from the midfielder in first-half stoppage time and the defender's second-half header made sure there would be no comeback for their ex-coach.

No one needed a goal more than the young striker, the Everton attacker who had gone 10 Premier League outings without testing the goalkeeper after his big-money move from Villarreal and spurned a clear opportunity to put his team 2-0 up at Sunderland earlier in the week. The youngster directed the first opportunity of the game wide of the Fulham keeper's goal frame when picked out by his teammate's fine cross.

The home side dominated the early exchanges and the Fulham goalkeeper pushed over the midfielder's long-range set-piece, awarded after the Fulham player was booked for fouling Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall. The Serbian brought down the identical opponent later in the half but the official, Andrew Madley, rightly ignored home protests for a second yellow. The Fulham boss was taking no further chances, though, and withdrew the player at the interval.

Barry thought his luck had finally turned when sliding in at the back post to turn in a drilled pass by his teammate. But the elation of a maiden strike was wiped out by an assistant referee’s flag. The attacker was in an illegal position when attacking the delivery, and failing to connect, and the VAR supported the original call. The forward's bad luck 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 occupied the opposition's back line and contributed to Everton the upper hand throughout.

Fulham grew into the game gradually with the Norwegian and the ex-Goodison player Alex Iwobi combining effectively in the engine room, but the first half threat from the visitors was limited. Raúl Jiménez fired weakly at the England keeper when teed up inside the area by Iwobi and sent a free-kick from a promising location straight into the defensive barrier. And that was it.

Everton, driven on by Dewsbury-Hall and Ndiaye, had a second goal chalked off for an infringement when the Fulham goalkeeper parried a Keane header and the captain fired home the rebound. The skipper had moved offside when nodding down Jack Grealish’s cross in the build-up. But the team's next effort past Leno counted. Vitalii Mykolenko delivered a lovely cross to the back post when found in space on the left flank by Tim Iroegbunam. The defender met it with a thumping header off the crossbar and, though the midfielder fluffed his lines, his teammate Gueye converted from close range. The sense of release inside the ground was palpable.

The home side had a further effort ruled out after the restart after the playmaker scored from a further excellent Mykolenko cross. The attacker had laid off the ball into Barry, who was in an offside position when challenging 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 two-goal lead. Dewsbury-Hall was the architect with a set-piece that Keane glanced over the goalkeeper. He did so with the upper body, and Fulham’s appeals for a handball were rejected by VAR.

Silva’s side carried more of a threat after the substitutions of Josh King, Rodrigo Muniz and Adama Traoré. The Everton keeper made a fine stop with his legs to deny the substitute scoring with his first touch and denied the speedster with another important stop in the dying moments.