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David Moyes had stressed before Fulham's visit that the responsibility for scoring goals should not rest only on his side's strikers. “I want more goals from my centre-halves and central players as well,” he insisted. The Senegalese midfielder and the English defender responded perfectly, securing a well-earned victory over the opposition's toothless team.

The Merseyside club's second win in nine outings was largely untroubled as the visitors showed the reason their top marksman this season is goals gifted by opponents. Aside from a short spell in the latter period, the away side were contained all match by Everton’s greater urgency and quality. The Blues had three goals disallowed for infringements, but a close-range strike from the midfielder in first-half stoppage time and the defender's late conversion ensured there would be no reprieve for the former Everton manager.

No one needed a goal more than Thierno Barry, the Goodison Park attacker who had failed to register a shot on target in 10 league games without testing the goalkeeper after his £27m summer arrival 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 crossbar when found by his teammate's fine cross.

Everton dominated the early exchanges and the visiting shot-stopper tipped over James Garner’s long-range set-piece, given after Sasa Lukic was yellow-carded for hauling down Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall. The Serbian brought down the same player again before halftime but the referee, the man in charge, rightly ignored home protests for a second yellow. The Fulham boss was not risking anything, however, and substituted the midfielder at the interval.

Barry thought his luck had finally turned when sliding in at the far post to turn in a drilled pass by Gueye. But the joy of a maiden strike was wiped out by an assistant referee’s flag. The attacker was offside when going for the delivery, and failing to connect, and the VAR backed up the original call. The forward's bad luck may have continued in front of goal, but his overall display validated Moyes’ decision to stick with him. His runs and effort kept busy the opposition's back line and helped give the hosts the edge all game.

Fulham came into the contest 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. Raúl Jiménez shot tamely at the England keeper when set up in the box by his teammate and put a set-piece from a promising location directly at the Everton wall. That summed up their attacking output.

Everton, inspired by Dewsbury-Hall and Ndiaye, had a another strike chalked off for an infringement when the Fulham goalkeeper saved a effort from Keane and James Tarkowski volleyed in the loose ball. The skipper had just strayed offside when nodding down Jack Grealish’s delivery in the buildup. But Everton’s third attempt beating Leno did stand. Vitalii Mykolenko floated a lovely cross to the far post when found in space on the left by the youngster. The defender met it with a thumping header against the bar and, though the midfielder fluffed his lines, his midfield partner Gueye finished from close range. The relief inside Hill Dickinson Stadium was evident.

Everton had a further effort disallowed after the restart after Dewsbury-Hall scored from a further excellent delivery from the left. The attacker had laid off the delivery into Barry, who was offside when competing with the Fulham defender 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 architect with a corner that the defender directed over Leno. He scored with the back of his shoulder, and the visitors' protests for handball were dismissed by VAR.

Silva’s side carried more of a threat following the introductions of the forward, Rodrigo Muniz and the winger. Pickford made a fine stop with his legs to prevent Muniz scoring with his first touch and stopped the speedster with another important stop in the dying moments.