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David Moyes had emphasized before Fulham's visit that the onus for scoring goals must not rest only on the team's strikers. “I expect more goals from my centre-halves and central players as well,” he declared. The Senegalese midfielder and the English defender responded perfectly, securing a fully deserved victory over Marco Silva’s toothless team.

Everton’s second victory in nine matches was relatively comfortable as Fulham demonstrated the reason their top marksman this season is goals gifted by opponents. Aside from a brief flurry in the second half, the away side were contained all match by the home team's superior intensity and technical ability. The Blues 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 reprieve for the former Everton manager.

No player was more in need of scoring as much as the young striker, the Everton attacker who had failed to register a shot on target in 10 league games without a shot on target after his big-money move from Villarreal and missed a clear opportunity to put his team 2-0 up at the Stadium of Light on Monday. The 23-year-old directed the earliest chance of the game wide of Bernd Leno’s crossbar when found by his teammate's excellent delivery.

The home side controlled the early exchanges and the visiting shot-stopper pushed over the midfielder's 30-yard free-kick, given after Sasa Lukic was booked for hauling down the Everton midfielder. The Serbian tripped the same player again before halftime but the referee, Andrew Madley, correctly waved away Everton appeals for a second yellow. Silva was not risking anything, though, and withdrew the midfielder at the interval.

Barry believed his fortune had changed at last when arriving at the far post to turn in a drilled pass by his teammate. But the joy of a maiden strike was wiped out by an assistant referee’s flag. Ndiaye was in an illegal position when going for the delivery, and failing to connect, and the video assistant referee backed up the on-field decision. The forward's bad luck may have persisted in the final third, but his overall display justified the manager's choice to keep the faith. His runs and work-rate kept busy Fulham’s central defenders and contributed to Everton the edge throughout.

Fulham came into the contest gradually with Sander Berge and the former Everton midfielder Alex Iwobi working well in the engine room, but the first half threat from the visitors was limited. Raúl Jiménez fired weakly at Jordon Pickford when set up inside the area by his teammate and sent a set-piece from a dangerous position directly at the defensive barrier. That summed up their attacking output.

Everton, inspired by Dewsbury-Hall and Ndiaye, had a another strike chalked off for offside when the Fulham goalkeeper saved a Keane header and the captain volleyed in the rebound. The skipper had moved offside when nodding down Jack Grealish’s delivery in the buildup. But Everton’s third attempt past the keeper did stand. Vitalii Mykolenko delivered a perfect ball to the back post when left unmarked on the left flank by Tim Iroegbunam. Tarkowski connected with a powerful nod off the crossbar and, though the midfielder fluffed his lines, his teammate Gueye converted 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 Dewsbury-Hall found the bottom corner from a further excellent delivery from the left. Ndiaye had laid off the ball into the striker, who was in an offside position when competing with Joachim Anderson for the ball that fell to the Everton midfielder. The team would have to be patient until the 81st minute for the comfort of a two-goal lead. The provider was the creator with a corner that the defender glanced past Leno. He scored with the upper body, and the visitors' protests for handball were rejected by the video official.

Fulham carried more of a threat following the substitutions of the forward, the Brazilian and Adama Traoré. The Everton keeper saved well with his feet to prevent the substitute scoring with his first touch and stopped Traoré with another important stop in the dying moments.