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David Moyes had stressed before Fulham's visit that the onus for finding the back of the net must not rest only on his side's forwards. “I want more goals from my centre-halves and midfielders as well,” he insisted. The Senegalese midfielder and the English defender duly obliged, earning a fully deserved victory over Marco Silva’s ineffective team.

Everton’s second win in nine matches was largely untroubled as Fulham demonstrated the reason their top marksman this season is goals gifted by opponents. Aside from a short spell in the latter period, the visitors were contained all match by Everton’s greater urgency and technical ability. The Blues had three efforts ruled out for infringements, but a poacher’s finish from the midfielder in first-half stoppage time and Keane’s late conversion ensured there would be no reprieve for the former Everton manager.

No one was more in need of scoring more than the young striker, the Goodison Park attacker who had gone 10 Premier League outings without testing the goalkeeper after his big-money move from Villarreal and missed a gilt-edged chance to put his team two goals ahead at the Stadium of Light on Monday. The 23-year-old directed the earliest chance of the game over Bernd Leno’s goal frame when found by Iliman Ndiaye’s fine cross.

Everton dominated the opening stages and the visiting shot-stopper tipped over the midfielder's long-range set-piece, awarded after Sasa Lukic was booked for fouling the Everton midfielder. Lukic tripped the identical opponent later in the half but the official, the man in charge, correctly waved away Everton appeals for a second yellow. The Fulham boss was taking no further chances, though, and substituted the player at the interval.

Barry thought his luck had finally turned when arriving at the back post to turn in a drilled pass by Gueye. But the elation of a maiden strike was wiped out by an assistant referee’s flag. The attacker was in an illegal position when attacking Gueye’s cross, and missing, and the VAR backed up the original call. Barry’s misfortune may have persisted in front of goal, but his all-round performance validated Moyes’ decision to keep the faith. His runs and work-rate kept busy Fulham’s central defenders and contributed to Everton the upper hand throughout.

Fulham came into the contest slowly with Sander Berge and the former Everton midfielder Alex Iwobi combining effectively in midfield, but the early danger from the away team was minimal. The Mexican striker shot tamely at the England keeper when set up in the box by his teammate and sent a set-piece from a dangerous position straight into the Everton wall. That summed up their attacking output.

Everton, driven on by the midfielder and the forward, had a another strike disallowed for an infringement when the Fulham goalkeeper parried a effort from Keane and James Tarkowski fired home the rebound. The skipper had moved offside when heading on the winger's delivery in the build-up. But the team's next effort beating Leno counted. The left-back delivered a perfect ball to the far post when found in space on the left flank by the youngster. The defender connected with a thumping header against the bar and, though Iroegbunam mishit the rebound, his midfield partner the scorer converted from point-blank. The sense of release inside Hill Dickinson Stadium was evident.

Everton had a third goal ruled out after the restart after Dewsbury-Hall scored from a further excellent Mykolenko cross. Ndiaye had laid off the ball into the striker, who was offside when competing with Joachim Anderson for the ball that reached the home player. The team would have to be patient until the closing stages for the comfort of a two-goal lead. The provider was the creator with a set-piece that Keane directed past Leno. He did so with the back of his shoulder, and the visitors' protests for a handball were dismissed by VAR.

Silva’s side carried more of a threat following the substitutions of Josh King, the Brazilian and Adama Traoré. The Everton keeper made a fine stop with his feet to prevent Muniz finding the net with his first touch and denied Traoré with a crucial save late on.