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David Moyes had made clear before Fulham's visit that the onus for scoring goals should not fall solely on the team's forwards. “I want more goals from my centre-halves and midfielders as well,” he stated. The Senegalese midfielder and Michael Keane responded perfectly, delivering a fully deserved victory over Marco Silva’s toothless side.

Everton’s second victory in nine outings was relatively comfortable as Fulham highlighted the reason their top marksman this season is opposition own goals. Aside from a short spell in the latter period, the visitors were kept quiet throughout by Everton’s superior intensity and technical ability. The Blues had three goals disallowed for offside, but a poacher’s finish from the midfielder in first-half stoppage time and the defender's late conversion made sure there would be no comeback for their ex-coach.

No player was more in need of scoring more than the young striker, the Everton attacker who had gone 10 Premier League outings without a shot on target after his £27m summer arrival from Villarreal 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 headed the first opportunity of the game wide of the Fulham keeper's goal frame when picked out by Iliman Ndiaye’s fine cross.

Everton dominated the opening stages and the Fulham goalkeeper pushed over the midfielder's 30-yard free-kick, awarded after the Fulham player was yellow-carded for hauling down the Everton midfielder. Lukic tripped the same player again before halftime but the official, the man in charge, rightly ignored home protests for a sending off. Silva was not risking anything, though, and substituted the midfielder at the break.

The striker believed his fortune had changed at last when arriving at the back post to turn in a low cross by Gueye. But the joy of a first Everton goal was erased by an assistant referee’s flag. The attacker was in an illegal position when going for the delivery, and missing, and the VAR supported the original call. Barry’s misfortune may have persisted in the final third, but his all-round performance validated Moyes’ decision to stick with him. His runs and effort occupied the opposition's back line and contributed to Everton the upper hand all game.

The Londoners came into the contest gradually with the Norwegian and the ex-Goodison player Alex Iwobi working well in the engine room, but the early danger from the visitors was limited. Raúl Jiménez fired weakly at Jordon Pickford when teed up in the box by his teammate and put a free-kick from a promising location straight into the Everton wall. And that was it.

Everton, driven on by Dewsbury-Hall and the forward, had a another strike disallowed for an infringement when the Fulham goalkeeper parried a Keane header and the captain volleyed in the loose ball. The home captain had just strayed beyond the last defender when nodding down Jack Grealish’s cross in the buildup. But Everton’s third attempt beating Leno did stand. Vitalii Mykolenko delivered a lovely cross to the far post when found in space on the left flank by Tim Iroegbunam. The defender met it with a thumping header off the crossbar and, though the midfielder mishit the rebound, his teammate Gueye converted from close range. The sense of release inside the ground was palpable.

The home side had a third goal disallowed early in the second half after the playmaker scored from another inviting delivery from the left. Ndiaye had cushioned the ball into the striker, who was in an offside position when competing with the Fulham defender for the ball that reached the home player. The team would have to wait until the closing stages for the comfort of a two-goal lead. The provider was the architect with a corner that Keane directed past the goalkeeper. He did so with the back of his shoulder, and Fulham’s appeals for a handball were dismissed by the video official.

Fulham carried more of a threat following the introductions of Josh King, the Brazilian and the winger. Pickford saved well with his feet to deny Muniz scoring with his first touch and denied Traoré with a crucial save late on.