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David Moyes had made clear before the match against Fulham that the responsibility for finding the back of the net must not fall solely on the team's forwards. “I want more goals from my centre-halves and central players as well,” he insisted. The Senegalese midfielder and Michael Keane responded perfectly, earning a merited victory over Marco Silva’s toothless side.

The Merseyside club's second win in nine matches was relatively comfortable as Fulham demonstrated why their leading scorer this season is goals gifted by opponents. Aside from a brief flurry in the latter period, the visitors were subdued all match by the home team's superior intensity and technical ability. 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 comeback for their ex-coach.

No player needed a goal more than Thierno Barry, the Everton forward who had gone 10 Premier League outings without testing the goalkeeper after his £27m summer arrival 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 earliest chance of the game over Bernd Leno’s goal frame when picked out by his teammate's excellent delivery.

The home side controlled the early exchanges and the visiting shot-stopper tipped over the midfielder's long-range set-piece, given after Sasa Lukic was yellow-carded for fouling the Everton midfielder. Lukic tripped the identical opponent again before halftime but the referee, Andrew Madley, rightly ignored Everton appeals for a sending off. Silva was taking no further chances, though, and substituted the midfielder at the interval.

Barry thought his fortune had finally turned when arriving at the back post to turn in a low cross by Gueye. But the joy of a first Everton goal was wiped out by an assistant referee’s flag. The attacker was in an illegal position when going for the delivery, and missing, and the video assistant referee backed up the on-field decision. Barry’s misfortune may have persisted in front of goal, but his overall display validated the manager's choice to keep the faith. His movement and work-rate kept busy the opposition's back line and contributed to Everton the edge all game.

The Londoners came into the contest slowly with Sander Berge and the ex-Goodison player Alex Iwobi combining effectively in midfield, but the early danger from the away team was limited. Raúl Jiménez shot tamely at Jordon Pickford when set up in the box by Iwobi and put a free-kick from a promising location straight into the Everton wall. And that was it.

The Blues, inspired by the midfielder and the forward, had a second goal chalked off for offside when Leno saved a effort from Keane and James Tarkowski volleyed in the rebound. The home captain had just strayed beyond the last defender when heading on Jack Grealish’s delivery in the build-up. But the team's third attempt beating the keeper counted. Vitalii Mykolenko delivered a perfect ball to the back post when found in space on the left by the youngster. The defender met it with a powerful nod 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.

Everton had a third goal ruled out early in the second half after Dewsbury-Hall scored from another inviting Mykolenko cross. The attacker had laid off the delivery into the striker, who was in an offside position when competing with the Fulham defender for the ball that reached the Everton midfielder. The team would have to wait until the 81st minute for the security of a two-goal lead. The provider was the architect with a set-piece that the defender directed over the goalkeeper. He scored with the back of his shoulder, and Fulham’s appeals for a handball were rejected by VAR.

Fulham posed more danger following the substitutions of the forward, Rodrigo Muniz and Adama Traoré. Pickford made a fine stop with his feet to deny Muniz scoring with his first touch and stopped the speedster with another important stop in the dying moments.