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David Moyes had emphasized before the match against Fulham that the responsibility for scoring goals should not rest only on his side's strikers. “I expect more goals from my centre-halves and midfielders as well,” he declared. Idrissa Gueye and the English defender duly obliged, securing a merited victory over the opposition's ineffective team.

The Merseyside club's second win in nine outings was fairly straightforward as the visitors demonstrated the reason their leading scorer this season is goals gifted by opponents. Aside from a short spell in the second half, the away side were contained throughout by Everton’s superior intensity and technical ability. Moyes’ team had three efforts disallowed for offside, but a poacher’s finish from Gueye in first-half stoppage time and the defender's late conversion ensured there would be no comeback for their ex-coach.

No one needed a goal more than Thierno Barry, the Everton forward who had gone 10 Premier League outings without a shot on target after his £27m summer arrival from the Spanish side and spurned a gilt-edged chance to put his team 2-0 up at the Stadium of Light on Monday. The youngster headed the earliest chance of the game over the Fulham keeper's crossbar when found by his teammate's excellent delivery.

Everton dominated the opening stages and the Fulham goalkeeper pushed over the midfielder's long-range set-piece, given after Sasa Lukic was booked for fouling Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall. The Serbian brought down the identical opponent again before halftime but the referee, Andrew Madley, rightly ignored home protests for a sending off. Silva was not risking anything, however, and withdrew the midfielder at the break.

Barry believed his fortune had changed at last when sliding in at the back post to convert a low cross by Gueye. But the elation of a first Everton goal was wiped out by an linesman's decision. The attacker was offside when attacking Gueye’s cross, and missing, and the VAR supported the on-field decision. Barry’s misfortune may have continued in the final third, but his all-round performance justified Moyes’ decision to stick with him. His runs and work-rate kept busy the opposition's back line and helped give the hosts the upper hand throughout.

The Londoners grew into the game gradually with the Norwegian and the former Everton midfielder the Nigerian working well in midfield, but the early danger from the visitors was limited. Raúl Jiménez fired weakly at the England keeper when teed up inside the area by Iwobi and put a free-kick from a promising location straight into the Everton wall. And that was it.

Everton, driven on by the midfielder and Ndiaye, had a another strike disallowed for offside when the Fulham goalkeeper parried a Keane header and the captain volleyed in the rebound. The home captain had moved offside when heading on Jack Grealish’s cross in the buildup. But Everton’s third attempt beating Leno counted. The left-back floated a perfect ball to the back post when left unmarked on the left flank by Tim Iroegbunam. The defender connected with a thumping header off the crossbar and, though Iroegbunam mishit the rebound, his teammate the scorer converted from point-blank. The sense of release inside Hill Dickinson Stadium was evident.

The home side had a further effort ruled out after the restart after the playmaker found the bottom corner from a further excellent delivery from the left. Ndiaye had laid off the delivery into Barry, who was in an offside position when competing with Joachim Anderson for the touch that fell to the home player. The team would have to be patient until the closing stages for the comfort of a second goal. Dewsbury-Hall was the creator with a corner that Keane directed past Leno. He did so with the back of his shoulder, and Fulham’s appeals for a handball were rejected by VAR.

Silva’s side carried more of a threat after the substitutions of the forward, the Brazilian and the winger. Pickford made a fine stop with his feet to deny the substitute scoring with his first touch and stopped the speedster with a crucial save in the dying moments.