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David Moyes had emphasized before Fulham's visit that the responsibility for scoring goals 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 responded perfectly, securing a fully deserved victory over the opposition's toothless team.

The Merseyside club's second victory in nine outings was fairly straightforward as the visitors showed the reason their top marksman this season is opposition own goals. Apart from a short spell in the second half, the away side were contained throughout by the home team's superior intensity and technical ability. The Blues had three efforts ruled out for offside, but a poacher’s finish from the midfielder in added time before the break and the defender's second-half header made sure there would be no comeback for their ex-coach.

No one needed a goal as much as Thierno Barry, the Everton forward who had gone 10 Premier League outings without testing the goalkeeper after his £27m summer arrival from the Spanish side and spurned a clear opportunity to put his team 2-0 up at the Stadium of Light earlier in the week. 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.

The home side controlled the opening stages and the visiting shot-stopper pushed over the midfielder's long-range set-piece, awarded after the Fulham player was booked for hauling down the Everton midfielder. The Serbian brought down the same player again before halftime but the official, Andrew Madley, correctly waved away Everton appeals for a sending off. The Fulham boss was taking no further chances, though, and withdrew the midfielder at the interval.

The striker believed his fortune had changed at last when sliding in at the back post to turn in a low cross by his teammate. But the joy of a maiden strike was wiped out by an assistant referee’s flag. The attacker was in an illegal position when going for the delivery, and failing to connect, and the VAR supported the original call. The forward's bad luck may have continued in front of goal, but his all-round performance justified the manager's choice to stick with him. His movement and effort occupied Fulham’s central defenders and contributed to the hosts the edge throughout.

The Londoners grew into the game gradually with Sander Berge and the former Everton midfielder Alex Iwobi combining effectively in midfield, but the first half threat from the visitors was limited. Raúl Jiménez shot tamely at the England keeper when set up in the box by his teammate and sent a free-kick from a promising location straight into the Everton wall. That summed up their attacking output.

The Blues, driven on by the midfielder and Ndiaye, had a another strike disallowed for offside when the Fulham goalkeeper parried a Keane header and James Tarkowski fired home the loose ball. The skipper had moved beyond the last defender when nodding down Jack Grealish’s delivery in the build-up. But Everton’s third attempt beating the keeper did stand. Vitalii Mykolenko delivered a perfect ball to the back post when left unmarked on the left by the youngster. The defender met it with a thumping header off the crossbar and, though the midfielder mishit the rebound, his midfield partner the scorer converted from point-blank. The relief inside the ground was evident.

Everton had a further effort disallowed after the restart after the playmaker found the bottom corner from another inviting Mykolenko cross. Ndiaye had laid off the delivery into the striker, who was offside when competing with the Fulham defender for the touch that fell to the home player. The team would have to be patient until the closing stages for the security of a second goal. Dewsbury-Hall was the architect with a set-piece that Keane directed over the goalkeeper. He scored with the upper body, and the visitors' protests for a handball were dismissed by VAR.

Silva’s side posed more danger following the substitutions of Josh King, the Brazilian and the winger. The Everton keeper saved well with his feet to prevent the substitute scoring with his first touch and stopped Traoré with another important stop in the dying moments.