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David Moyes had emphasized before Fulham's visit that the responsibility for scoring goals must not fall solely on his side's forwards. “I want more goals from my defenders and central players as well,” he declared. The Senegalese midfielder and Michael Keane responded perfectly, securing a merited victory over Marco Silva’s toothless team.

Everton’s second win in nine matches was largely untroubled as Fulham highlighted why their top marksman this season is goals gifted by opponents. Aside from a short spell in the latter period, the visitors were kept quiet all match by the home team's superior intensity and quality. Moyes’ team had three efforts disallowed for infringements, but a close-range strike from the midfielder in added time before the break and Keane’s second-half header ensured there would be no reprieve for the former Everton manager.

No one was more in need of scoring as much as the young striker, the Goodison Park attacker who had gone 10 Premier League outings without a shot on target after his big-money move from Villarreal and spurned a clear opportunity to put his team two goals ahead at the Stadium of Light on Monday. The youngster headed the first opportunity of the game wide of the Fulham keeper's crossbar when picked out by Iliman Ndiaye’s fine cross.

The home side controlled the opening stages and the Fulham goalkeeper tipped over James Garner’s long-range set-piece, given after Sasa Lukic was yellow-carded for hauling down the Everton midfielder. Lukic tripped the identical opponent again before halftime but the referee, Andrew Madley, rightly ignored home protests for a sending off. The Fulham boss was not risking anything, however, and substituted the player at the interval.

The striker thought his fortune had changed at last when sliding in at the back post to turn in a drilled pass by his teammate. But the elation of a first Everton goal was erased by an linesman's decision. Ndiaye was in an illegal position when attacking Gueye’s cross, and failing to connect, and the VAR backed up the on-field decision. The forward's bad luck may have continued in front of goal, but his all-round performance validated the manager's choice to keep the faith. His runs and effort occupied the opposition's back line 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 first half threat from the visitors was limited. The Mexican striker fired weakly at Jordon Pickford when set up inside the area by his teammate and sent a set-piece from a promising location directly at the Everton wall. That summed up their attacking output.

The Blues, driven on by the midfielder and Ndiaye, had a another strike chalked off for offside when Leno parried a Keane header and James Tarkowski fired home the rebound. The home captain had moved offside when heading on Jack Grealish’s delivery in the build-up. But the team's next effort beating Leno counted. The left-back floated a lovely cross to the back post when left unmarked on the left by Tim Iroegbunam. The defender met it with a powerful nod off the crossbar and, though Iroegbunam fluffed his lines, his teammate the scorer finished 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 scored from another inviting Mykolenko cross. The attacker had laid off the ball into Barry, who was offside when challenging the Fulham defender for the ball that fell to the home player. The team would have to wait until the 81st minute for the security of a second goal. Dewsbury-Hall was the creator with a corner that Keane directed over the goalkeeper. He scored with the upper body, and Fulham’s appeals for handball were rejected by the video official.

Silva’s side posed more danger following the substitutions of the forward, Rodrigo Muniz and Adama Traoré. Pickford made a fine stop with his feet to prevent Muniz scoring with his initial involvement and denied the speedster with another important stop in the dying moments.