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The Everton manager had made clear before Fulham's visit that the onus for scoring goals should not fall solely on his side's forwards. “I want more goals from my defenders and central players as well,” he insisted. Idrissa Gueye and the English defender rose to the occasion, delivering a merited victory over Marco Silva’s ineffective side.

The Merseyside club's second win in nine matches was fairly straightforward as the visitors demonstrated why their top marksman this season is opposition own goals. Apart from a short spell in the latter period, the away side were contained all match by Everton’s greater urgency and quality. Moyes’ team had three efforts ruled out for offside, but a poacher’s finish from the midfielder in added time before the break and the defender's late conversion ensured there would be no reprieve for the former Everton manager.

No one needed a goal as much as Thierno Barry, the Everton attacker who had gone 10 Premier League outings without a shot on target after his big-money move from the Spanish side 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 earliest chance of the game wide of Bernd Leno’s goal frame when found by his teammate's excellent delivery.

Everton dominated the opening stages and the visiting shot-stopper tipped over the midfielder's 30-yard free-kick, given after the Fulham player was yellow-carded for hauling down the Everton midfielder. Lukic brought down the same player again before halftime but the referee, Andrew Madley, rightly ignored home protests for a second yellow. Silva was taking no further chances, though, and substituted the player at the interval.

The striker thought his fortune had changed at last when arriving at the back post to convert a low cross by his teammate. But the joy of a first Everton goal was wiped out by an linesman's decision. Ndiaye was offside when attacking Gueye’s cross, and failing to connect, and the video assistant referee supported the original call. The forward's bad luck may have continued in front of goal, 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 contributed to the hosts the upper hand all game.

Fulham came into the contest slowly with Sander Berge and the ex-Goodison player the Nigerian combining effectively in the engine room, but the first half threat from the away team was limited. The Mexican striker fired weakly at Jordon Pickford when set up inside the area by Iwobi and put a set-piece from a dangerous position directly at the defensive barrier. That summed up their attacking output.

The Blues, driven on by Dewsbury-Hall and Ndiaye, had a second goal disallowed for an infringement when the Fulham goalkeeper parried a effort from Keane and the captain fired home the rebound. The home captain had moved beyond the last defender when heading on the winger's cross in the buildup. But Everton’s next effort beating Leno did stand. The left-back delivered a perfect ball to the far post when left unmarked on the left flank by the youngster. The defender met it with a powerful nod 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.

The home side had a third goal ruled out after the restart after Dewsbury-Hall found the bottom corner from a further excellent Mykolenko cross. Ndiaye had laid off the delivery into Barry, who was in an offside position when challenging Joachim Anderson for the touch that reached the home player. Everton would have to be patient until the 81st minute for the security of a second goal. The provider was the creator with a set-piece that Keane directed past the goalkeeper. He scored with the upper body, and Fulham’s appeals for handball were rejected by VAR.

Fulham carried more of a threat following the substitutions of the forward, the Brazilian and Adama Traoré. The Everton keeper made a fine stop with his feet to deny Muniz scoring with his initial involvement and denied the speedster with another important stop late on.