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David Moyes had stressed before Fulham's visit that the responsibility for scoring goals should not fall solely on his side's strikers. “I demand more goals from my centre-halves and central players as well,” he insisted. The Senegalese midfielder and Michael Keane rose to the occasion, securing a fully deserved victory over Marco Silva’s toothless side.

The Merseyside club's second victory in nine matches was largely untroubled as the visitors demonstrated why their leading scorer this season is goals gifted by opponents. Aside from a brief flurry in the latter period, the away side were kept quiet all match by Everton’s superior intensity 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 their ex-coach.

No player was more in need of scoring 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 Villarreal and spurned a clear opportunity to put his team 2-0 up at Sunderland earlier in the week. The youngster directed the earliest chance of the game wide of Bernd Leno’s goal frame when found by Iliman Ndiaye’s excellent delivery.

Everton dominated the opening stages and the visiting shot-stopper tipped over James Garner’s long-range set-piece, awarded after the Fulham player was booked for fouling Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall. The Serbian brought down the same player again before halftime but the referee, Andrew Madley, correctly waved away Everton appeals for a sending off. Silva was not risking anything, though, and substituted the player at the break.

Barry thought his luck had finally turned when sliding in at the back post to turn in a drilled pass by Gueye. But the elation of a maiden strike was wiped out by an linesman's decision. Ndiaye was in an illegal position when attacking the delivery, and failing to connect, and the video assistant referee supported the original call. The forward's bad luck may have continued in the final third, but his overall display validated the manager's choice to stick with him. His runs and effort occupied Fulham’s central defenders and contributed to Everton the upper hand all game.

Fulham grew into the game slowly with Sander Berge and the ex-Goodison player Alex Iwobi combining effectively in the engine room, but the first half threat from the visitors was minimal. Raúl Jiménez fired weakly at Jordon Pickford when set up in the box by Iwobi and put a set-piece from a promising location straight into the Everton wall. And that was it.

Everton, driven on by the midfielder and the forward, had a another strike chalked off for offside when the Fulham goalkeeper saved a effort from Keane and James Tarkowski fired home the loose ball. The skipper had just strayed offside when heading on Jack Grealish’s cross in the build-up. But the team's third attempt beating the keeper counted. The left-back floated a perfect ball to the far post when found in space on the left by the youngster. The defender met it with a powerful nod against the bar and, though the midfielder fluffed his lines, his midfield partner Gueye finished from close range. The sense of release inside Hill Dickinson Stadium was palpable.

Everton had a further effort disallowed early in the second half after the playmaker scored from a further excellent delivery from the left. The attacker had laid off the delivery into Barry, who was in an offside position when challenging the Fulham defender for the ball that reached the home player. Everton would have to be patient until the 81st minute for the comfort of a second goal. Dewsbury-Hall was the creator with a corner that Keane glanced over Leno. He scored with the back of his shoulder, and the visitors' protests for handball were dismissed by VAR.

Fulham posed more danger after the substitutions of the forward, Rodrigo Muniz and Adama Traoré. The Everton keeper saved well with his feet to deny the substitute finding the net with his initial involvement and stopped the speedster with a crucial save late on.