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David Moyes had made clear before Fulham's visit that the onus for scoring goals must not fall solely on his side's forwards. “I want more goals from my centre-halves and central players as well,” he declared. The Senegalese midfielder and the English defender rose to the occasion, earning a fully deserved victory over Marco Silva’s toothless team.

Everton’s second victory in nine matches was relatively comfortable as Fulham highlighted why their leading scorer this season is opposition own goals. Apart from a brief flurry in the second half, the away side were contained all match by Everton’s superior intensity and quality. The Blues had three goals disallowed for infringements, but a close-range strike from the midfielder in added time before the break and the defender's second-half header made sure there would be no reprieve for their ex-coach.

No player was more in need of scoring as much as Thierno Barry, the Goodison Park attacker who had failed to register a shot on target in 10 league games without a shot on target after his big-money move from Villarreal and spurned a gilt-edged chance to put his team 2-0 up at Sunderland on Monday. The youngster headed the earliest chance of the game over Bernd Leno’s goal frame when found by his teammate's fine cross.

The home side dominated the opening stages and the visiting shot-stopper pushed over the midfielder's long-range set-piece, given after the Fulham player was yellow-carded for fouling Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall. Lukic tripped the identical opponent again before halftime but the official, Andrew Madley, rightly ignored home protests for a sending off. Silva was not risking anything, though, and withdrew the player at the interval.

The striker thought his luck had finally turned when arriving at the far post to turn in a low cross by Gueye. But the elation of a first Everton goal was wiped out by an assistant referee’s flag. Ndiaye was offside when going for Gueye’s cross, and missing, and the VAR backed up the on-field decision. Barry’s misfortune may have persisted in the final third, but his all-round performance justified the manager's choice to keep the faith. His runs and work-rate occupied the opposition's back line and helped give the hosts the edge all game.

Fulham grew into the game gradually with the Norwegian and the former Everton midfielder the Nigerian combining effectively in midfield, but the early danger from the visitors was limited. The Mexican striker fired weakly at Jordon Pickford when teed up in the box by his teammate and put a free-kick from a dangerous position straight into the Everton wall. That summed up their attacking output.

The Blues, inspired by Dewsbury-Hall and Ndiaye, 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 moved offside when heading on Jack Grealish’s cross in the build-up. But the team's third attempt past Leno counted. The left-back delivered a perfect ball to the far post when left unmarked on the left flank by Tim Iroegbunam. Tarkowski connected with a powerful nod off the crossbar and, though the midfielder fluffed his lines, his teammate Gueye converted from point-blank. The relief inside the ground was evident.

Everton had a third goal ruled out after the restart after the playmaker found the bottom corner from a further excellent Mykolenko cross. The attacker had laid off the ball into the striker, who was offside when challenging Joachim Anderson for the ball that fell to the home player. The team would have to wait until the 81st minute for the comfort of a second goal. Dewsbury-Hall was the architect with a set-piece that the defender directed past Leno. He scored with the upper body, and the visitors' protests for handball were dismissed by the video official.

Silva’s side carried more of a threat following the substitutions of Josh King, Rodrigo Muniz and Adama Traoré. The Everton keeper saved well with his legs to deny the substitute finding the net with his first touch and stopped the speedster with a crucial save late on.