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David Moyes had emphasized before the match against Fulham that the responsibility for finding the back of the net should not fall solely on his side's strikers. “I expect more goals from my defenders and central players as well,” he declared. The Senegalese midfielder and the English defender responded perfectly, delivering a well-earned victory over Marco Silva’s ineffective side.

Everton’s second win in nine outings was fairly straightforward as Fulham demonstrated the reason their leading scorer this season is goals gifted by opponents. Apart from a brief flurry in the second half, the visitors were kept quiet throughout by Everton’s superior intensity and technical ability. Moyes’ team had three goals ruled out for offside, but a poacher’s finish from Gueye in added time before the break and the defender's second-half header made sure there would be no comeback for their ex-coach.

No player was more in need of scoring as much as the young striker, the Goodison Park forward who had gone 10 Premier League outings without a shot on target after his big-money move from the Spanish side and missed a clear opportunity to put his team two goals ahead at Sunderland on Monday. The youngster directed the first opportunity of the game over the Fulham keeper's goal frame when found by Iliman Ndiaye’s excellent delivery.

The home side controlled the opening stages and the Fulham goalkeeper pushed over the midfielder's long-range set-piece, awarded after Sasa Lukic was yellow-carded for fouling the Everton midfielder. The Serbian tripped the same player again before halftime but the official, Andrew Madley, rightly ignored home protests for a second yellow. Silva was taking no further chances, though, and withdrew the midfielder at the interval.

The striker believed his luck had changed at last when sliding in at the far post to turn in a drilled pass by his teammate. But the elation of a maiden strike was erased by an linesman's decision. Ndiaye was offside when attacking the delivery, 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 stick with him. His runs and work-rate kept busy the opposition's back line and helped give Everton the upper hand all game.

Fulham grew into the game gradually with the Norwegian and the ex-Goodison player the Nigerian working well in midfield, but the first half threat from the visitors was limited. The Mexican striker 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 defensive barrier. That summed up their attacking output.

The Blues, inspired by the midfielder and the forward, had a second goal disallowed for offside when the Fulham goalkeeper parried a effort from Keane and James Tarkowski fired home the loose ball. The home captain had moved beyond the last defender when nodding down the winger's delivery in the buildup. But the team's next effort beating the keeper counted. Vitalii Mykolenko floated a lovely cross to the far post when left unmarked on the left by the youngster. The defender met it with a thumping header off the crossbar and, though the midfielder fluffed his lines, his midfield partner Gueye finished from close range. The sense of release inside the ground was palpable.

The home side had a further effort ruled out early in the second half after the playmaker scored from another inviting delivery from the left. Ndiaye had cushioned the delivery into Barry, who was offside when challenging the Fulham defender for the touch that reached the home player. The team would have to wait until the 81st minute for the comfort of a second goal. Dewsbury-Hall was the creator with a corner that Keane glanced past Leno. He did so with the upper body, and Fulham’s appeals for a handball were rejected by VAR.

Silva’s side posed more danger after the substitutions of Josh King, the Brazilian and the winger. Pickford made a fine stop with his legs to prevent Muniz finding the net with his first touch and denied the speedster with another important stop in the dying moments.