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The Everton manager had made clear before the match against Fulham that the responsibility for finding the back of the net should not rest only on the team's strikers. “I want more goals from my defenders and midfielders as well,” he insisted. The Senegalese midfielder and the English defender rose to the occasion, earning a fully deserved victory over the opposition's toothless team.

Everton’s second victory in nine outings was relatively comfortable as the visitors demonstrated why their leading scorer this season is opposition own goals. Apart from a brief flurry in the latter period, the away side were subdued throughout by Everton’s greater urgency and quality. Moyes’ team had three goals ruled out for infringements, but a close-range strike from the midfielder in added time before the break and Keane’s second-half header made sure there would be no reprieve for their ex-coach.

No player was more in need of scoring more than the young striker, the Goodison Park attacker who had gone 10 Premier League outings without testing the goalkeeper after his big-money move from the Spanish side and spurned a clear opportunity to put his team 2-0 up at the Stadium of Light earlier in the week. The 23-year-old directed the first opportunity of the game wide of the Fulham keeper's goal frame when found by Iliman Ndiaye’s excellent delivery.

Everton dominated the early exchanges and the Fulham goalkeeper pushed over James Garner’s long-range set-piece, awarded after the Fulham player was yellow-carded for hauling down the Everton midfielder. The Serbian tripped the same player later in the half but the referee, Andrew Madley, rightly ignored Everton appeals for a second yellow. The Fulham boss was not risking anything, though, and withdrew the midfielder at the break.

Barry thought his luck had finally turned when arriving at the far post to turn in a drilled pass by his teammate. But the elation of a maiden strike was wiped out by an linesman's decision. Ndiaye was in an illegal position when going for Gueye’s cross, and failing to connect, and the VAR supported the original call. The forward's bad luck may have persisted in the final third, but his all-round performance validated the manager's choice to stick with him. His runs and effort kept busy Fulham’s central defenders and helped give Everton the upper hand throughout.

Fulham came into the contest gradually with Sander Berge and the ex-Goodison player Alex Iwobi working well in the engine room, but the early danger from the away team was minimal. Raúl Jiménez shot tamely at Jordon Pickford when set up inside the area by Iwobi and sent a free-kick from a dangerous position straight into the defensive barrier. That summed up their attacking output.

The Blues, driven on by Dewsbury-Hall and Ndiaye, had a another strike disallowed for offside when the Fulham goalkeeper saved a effort from Keane and James Tarkowski fired home the loose ball. The skipper had just strayed beyond the last defender when nodding down Jack Grealish’s delivery in the build-up. But the team's next effort past the keeper counted. Vitalii Mykolenko delivered a perfect ball to the far post when left unmarked on the left flank by Tim Iroegbunam. The defender met it with a thumping header off the crossbar and, though Iroegbunam mishit the rebound, his teammate the scorer finished from close range. The relief inside Hill Dickinson Stadium was evident.

Everton had a further effort ruled out early in the second half after the playmaker found the bottom corner from another inviting Mykolenko cross. Ndiaye had cushioned the ball into the striker, who was offside when competing with the Fulham defender for the touch that fell to 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 architect with a set-piece that the defender glanced over Leno. He scored with the back of his shoulder, and the visitors' protests for handball were dismissed by VAR.

Silva’s side posed more danger after the introductions of the forward, Rodrigo Muniz and Adama Traoré. Pickford saved well with his legs to prevent the substitute finding the net with his initial involvement and denied the speedster with a crucial save in the dying moments.