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David Moyes had made clear before Fulham's visit that the responsibility for scoring goals should not rest only on his side's strikers. “I expect more goals from my centre-halves and central players as well,” he stated. The Senegalese midfielder and Michael Keane rose to the occasion, earning a fully deserved victory over Marco Silva’s ineffective team.

The Merseyside club's second win in nine matches was relatively comfortable as Fulham showed why their leading scorer this season is goals gifted by opponents. Apart from a brief flurry in the latter period, the visitors were contained throughout by Everton’s greater urgency and technical ability. Moyes’ team had three efforts disallowed for offside, but a poacher’s finish from Gueye in first-half stoppage time and Keane’s late conversion made sure there would be no comeback for the former Everton manager.

No player was more in need of scoring as much as the young striker, the Goodison Park forward who had failed to register a shot on target in 10 league games without a shot on target after his £27m summer arrival from Villarreal and spurned a gilt-edged chance to put his team two goals ahead at the Stadium of Light on Monday. The 23-year-old directed the earliest chance of the game over Bernd Leno’s goal frame when picked out by his teammate's excellent delivery.

The home side controlled the early exchanges and the visiting shot-stopper pushed over James Garner’s long-range set-piece, awarded after the Fulham player was booked for hauling down Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall. Lukic tripped the identical opponent again before halftime but the referee, the man in charge, correctly waved away home protests for a sending off. The Fulham boss was taking no further chances, though, and withdrew the player at the interval.

Barry thought his fortune had changed at last when arriving at the far post to convert a drilled pass by Gueye. But the joy of a first Everton goal was erased by an linesman's decision. Ndiaye was in an illegal position when attacking the delivery, and failing to connect, and the VAR supported the original call. Barry’s misfortune may have continued in the final third, but his overall display validated Moyes’ decision to keep the faith. His runs and effort occupied the opposition's back line and helped give the hosts the edge all game.

The Londoners grew into the game gradually with Sander Berge and the ex-Goodison player Alex Iwobi working well in the engine room, but the early danger from the visitors was minimal. Raúl Jiménez fired weakly at Jordon Pickford when teed up inside the area by his teammate and sent a set-piece from a promising location straight into the defensive barrier. That summed up their attacking output.

The Blues, 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 James Tarkowski volleyed in the rebound. The skipper had just strayed beyond the last defender when nodding down the winger's cross in the build-up. But Everton’s third attempt past Leno did stand. The left-back delivered a perfect ball to the far post when left unmarked on the left by the youngster. Tarkowski met it with a powerful nod against the bar and, though Iroegbunam mishit the rebound, his teammate Gueye finished from point-blank. The sense of release inside Hill Dickinson Stadium was evident.

Everton had a further effort disallowed early in the second half after the playmaker scored from a further excellent Mykolenko cross. The attacker had cushioned the ball into Barry, who was in an offside position when competing with Joachim Anderson for the touch that fell to the Everton midfielder. The team would have to wait until the 81st minute for the comfort of a second goal. The provider was the creator with a corner that the defender glanced past the goalkeeper. He scored with the upper body, and Fulham’s appeals for a handball were dismissed by the video official.

Silva’s side carried more of a threat after the substitutions of the forward, the Brazilian and the winger. The Everton keeper saved well with his feet to deny Muniz scoring with his initial involvement and denied the speedster with a crucial save in the dying moments.