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The Everton manager had stressed before the match against Fulham that the onus for finding the back of the net must not fall solely on his side's forwards. “I expect more goals from my defenders and central players as well,” he stated. Idrissa Gueye and the English defender duly obliged, delivering a merited victory over Marco Silva’s ineffective team.

Everton’s second win in nine outings was largely untroubled as the visitors showed why their top marksman this season is opposition own goals. Aside from a short spell in the latter period, the visitors were contained all match by Everton’s superior intensity and technical ability. The Blues had three goals ruled out for offside, but a close-range strike from the midfielder in first-half stoppage time and the defender's late conversion made sure 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 Everton attacker who had failed to register a shot on target in 10 league games without testing the goalkeeper after his £27m summer arrival from the Spanish side and missed a gilt-edged chance to put his team two goals ahead at Sunderland on Monday. The 23-year-old headed the earliest chance of the game wide of Bernd Leno’s goal frame when picked out by his teammate's fine cross.

Everton dominated the opening stages and the visiting shot-stopper pushed over the midfielder's long-range set-piece, awarded after Sasa Lukic was booked for hauling down Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall. Lukic tripped the identical opponent later in the half but the referee, the man in charge, rightly ignored home protests for a sending off. The Fulham boss was not risking anything, though, and withdrew the midfielder at the interval.

Barry believed his luck had changed at last when arriving at the back post to convert a drilled pass by Gueye. But the elation of a maiden strike was erased by an assistant referee’s flag. The attacker was in an illegal position when attacking the delivery, and missing, and the video assistant referee backed up the original call. The forward's bad luck may have continued in front of goal, but his overall display justified the manager's choice to keep the faith. His runs and work-rate kept busy Fulham’s central defenders and helped give the hosts the upper hand all game.

The Londoners came into the contest slowly with the Norwegian and the former Everton midfielder the Nigerian combining effectively in the engine room, but the early danger from the visitors was limited. Raúl Jiménez fired weakly at the England keeper when set up in the box by Iwobi and sent a set-piece from a promising location straight into the defensive barrier. And that was it.

The Blues, driven on by Dewsbury-Hall and the forward, had a second goal disallowed for offside when Leno saved a effort from Keane and James Tarkowski volleyed in the rebound. The home captain had moved beyond the last defender when heading on Jack Grealish’s delivery in the buildup. But Everton’s third attempt past Leno counted. Vitalii Mykolenko delivered a lovely cross to the far post when found in space on the left by Tim Iroegbunam. Tarkowski connected with a thumping header off the crossbar and, though Iroegbunam mishit the rebound, his midfield partner Gueye converted from close range. The sense of release inside the ground was palpable.

The home side had a further effort disallowed after the restart after the playmaker found the bottom corner from a further excellent Mykolenko cross. Ndiaye had laid off the delivery into Barry, who was offside when competing with Joachim Anderson for the touch that reached the home player. The team would have to wait until the 81st minute for the security of a two-goal lead. The provider was the creator with a set-piece that Keane directed over the goalkeeper. He scored with the back of his shoulder, and Fulham’s appeals for a handball were dismissed by VAR.

Fulham carried more of a threat following the introductions of the forward, the Brazilian and Adama Traoré. The Everton keeper made a fine stop with his feet to prevent Muniz finding the net with his initial involvement and denied Traoré with a crucial save late on.