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David Moyes had made clear before the match against Fulham that the onus for finding the back of the net must not fall solely on the team's strikers. “I demand more goals from my defenders and midfielders as well,” he stated. The Senegalese midfielder and the English defender duly obliged, securing a merited victory over the opposition's ineffective team.

The Merseyside club's second win in nine outings was relatively comfortable as Fulham demonstrated the reason their leading scorer this season is opposition own goals. Apart from a brief flurry in the second half, the away side were contained throughout by Everton’s superior intensity and technical ability. The Blues had three efforts ruled out for infringements, but a close-range strike from Gueye in added time before the break and the defender's late conversion ensured there would be no comeback for their ex-coach.

No player needed a goal more than the young striker, the Goodison Park forward 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 two goals ahead at the Stadium of Light earlier in the week. The 23-year-old directed the earliest chance of the game over the Fulham keeper's crossbar when picked out by his teammate's fine cross.

The home side dominated the early exchanges and the Fulham goalkeeper pushed over James Garner’s 30-yard free-kick, awarded after the Fulham player was booked for fouling Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall. Lukic tripped the same player later in the half but the referee, the man in charge, rightly ignored Everton appeals for a second yellow. Silva was not risking anything, however, and withdrew the midfielder at the break.

The striker believed his luck had finally turned when sliding in at the back post to convert a drilled pass by Gueye. But the elation of a first Everton goal was wiped out by an assistant referee’s flag. The attacker was in an illegal position when going for Gueye’s cross, and failing to connect, and the VAR backed up the original call. The forward's bad luck may have persisted in the final third, but his all-round performance validated Moyes’ decision to keep the faith. His runs and work-rate occupied the opposition's back line and contributed to Everton the edge throughout.

The Londoners grew into the game slowly with Sander Berge and the former Everton midfielder Alex Iwobi combining effectively in the engine room, but the early danger from the visitors was limited. The Mexican striker fired weakly at the England keeper when teed up in the box by his teammate and put a free-kick from a promising location directly at the Everton wall. That summed up their attacking output.

The Blues, driven on by the midfielder and the forward, had a another strike disallowed for an infringement when the Fulham goalkeeper saved a effort from Keane and James Tarkowski volleyed in the rebound. The home captain had just strayed offside when nodding down Jack Grealish’s cross in the buildup. But the team's third attempt past the keeper counted. Vitalii Mykolenko floated a perfect ball to the far post when found in space on the left by Tim Iroegbunam. Tarkowski met it with a powerful nod off the crossbar and, though Iroegbunam mishit the rebound, his midfield partner Gueye finished from close range. The sense of release inside the ground was palpable.

The home side had a further effort disallowed early in the second half after the playmaker found the bottom corner from a further excellent Mykolenko cross. Ndiaye had cushioned the ball into Barry, who was in an offside position when competing with Joachim Anderson for the ball that reached the home player. The team would have to be patient until the 81st minute for the comfort of a two-goal lead. Dewsbury-Hall was the creator with a corner that Keane glanced over the goalkeeper. He did so with the back of his shoulder, and Fulham’s appeals for a handball were dismissed by VAR.

Fulham posed more danger following the introductions of Josh King, Rodrigo Muniz and the winger. The Everton keeper made a fine stop with his legs to prevent Muniz finding the net with his first touch and stopped Traoré with another important stop late on.