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David Moyes 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 strikers. “I want more goals from my centre-halves and central players as well,” he insisted. The Senegalese midfielder and the English defender rose to the occasion, delivering a fully deserved victory over Marco Silva’s ineffective team.

Everton’s second victory in nine matches was largely untroubled as the visitors demonstrated the reason their top marksman this season is goals gifted by opponents. Apart from a brief flurry in the latter period, the away side were contained throughout by the home team's superior intensity and quality. Moyes’ team had three goals disallowed for infringements, but a poacher’s finish from the midfielder in first-half stoppage time and the defender's late conversion made sure there would be no comeback for their ex-coach.

No player was more in need of scoring as much as the young striker, the Goodison Park forward who had gone 10 Premier League outings without a shot on target after his £27m summer arrival from the Spanish side and missed a clear opportunity to put his team 2-0 up at Sunderland earlier in the week. The 23-year-old directed the earliest chance of the game wide of Bernd Leno’s goal frame when found by his teammate's excellent delivery.

Everton controlled the early exchanges and the Fulham goalkeeper pushed over the midfielder's 30-yard free-kick, given after Sasa Lukic was yellow-carded for fouling the Everton midfielder. The Serbian brought down the identical opponent again before halftime but the referee, the man in charge, rightly ignored home protests for a sending off. Silva was not risking anything, however, and withdrew the player at the break.

Barry believed his luck had finally turned when sliding in at the far post to convert a low cross by his teammate. But the joy of a first Everton goal was wiped out by an assistant referee’s flag. The attacker was offside when attacking the delivery, and missing, and the VAR backed up the original call. Barry’s misfortune may have continued in front of goal, but his all-round performance validated Moyes’ decision to stick with him. His movement and work-rate kept busy the opposition's back line and helped give the hosts the upper hand all game.

The Londoners came into the contest slowly with the Norwegian and the ex-Goodison player the Nigerian working well in midfield, but the first half threat from the away team was limited. Raúl Jiménez fired weakly at Jordon Pickford when set up in the box by Iwobi and put a free-kick from a dangerous position directly at the Everton wall. And that was it.

Everton, driven on by the midfielder and the forward, had a second goal disallowed for an infringement when the Fulham goalkeeper saved a effort from Keane and James Tarkowski volleyed in the rebound. The skipper had just strayed beyond the last defender when nodding down the winger's cross in the build-up. But the team's third attempt beating Leno did stand. The left-back delivered a lovely cross to the far post when found in space on the left by the youngster. Tarkowski connected with a thumping header off the crossbar and, though Iroegbunam fluffed his lines, his teammate Gueye converted from point-blank. The relief inside the ground was evident.

The home side had a further effort disallowed early in the second half after Dewsbury-Hall found the bottom corner from another inviting delivery from the left. Ndiaye had cushioned the ball into the striker, who was offside when competing with the Fulham defender for the ball that reached the Everton midfielder. Everton would have to wait until the closing stages for the security of a two-goal lead. Dewsbury-Hall was the architect with a set-piece that Keane glanced past the goalkeeper. He did so with the upper body, and the visitors' protests for a handball were rejected by VAR.

Silva’s side carried more of a threat following the introductions of the forward, the Brazilian and the winger. Pickford made a fine stop with his legs to deny Muniz scoring with his initial involvement and stopped the speedster with another important stop late on.