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The Everton manager had emphasized before Fulham's visit that the onus for finding the back of the net should not fall solely on the team's forwards. “I want more goals from my defenders and central players as well,” he stated. The Senegalese midfielder and the English defender rose to the occasion, securing a fully deserved victory over the opposition's toothless side.

The Merseyside club's second win in nine outings was fairly straightforward as Fulham highlighted the reason their leading scorer this season is opposition own goals. Aside from a short spell in the second half, the visitors were contained throughout by Everton’s greater urgency and quality. The Blues had three efforts disallowed for offside, but a close-range strike from Gueye in added time before the break and Keane’s second-half header ensured there would be no comeback for their ex-coach.

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 testing the goalkeeper after his £27m summer arrival from Villarreal and spurned a gilt-edged chance to put his team 2-0 up at Sunderland on Monday. The youngster directed the earliest chance of the game over Bernd Leno’s goal frame when picked out by Iliman Ndiaye’s excellent delivery.

Everton dominated the opening stages and the visiting shot-stopper tipped over the midfielder's long-range set-piece, awarded after Sasa Lukic was yellow-carded for hauling down the Everton midfielder. Lukic tripped the same player again before halftime but the official, Andrew Madley, correctly waved away Everton appeals for a second yellow. Silva was not risking anything, however, and substituted the midfielder at the interval.

Barry believed his luck had finally turned when arriving at the far post to turn in a low cross by Gueye. But the elation of a first Everton goal was wiped out by an assistant referee’s flag. Ndiaye was offside when attacking the delivery, and missing, and the VAR supported the on-field decision. The forward's bad luck may have persisted in front of goal, but his overall display justified Moyes’ decision to stick with him. His runs and effort kept busy Fulham’s central defenders and helped give Everton the edge throughout.

Fulham grew into the game gradually with Sander Berge and the ex-Goodison player the Nigerian combining effectively in the engine room, but the early danger from the away team was limited. The Mexican striker fired weakly at the England keeper when set up in the box by his teammate and sent a free-kick from a dangerous position directly at the Everton wall. And that was it.

The Blues, driven on by Dewsbury-Hall and the forward, had a second goal disallowed for an infringement when the Fulham goalkeeper saved a effort from Keane and the captain fired home the rebound. The home captain had moved beyond the last defender when nodding down Jack Grealish’s delivery in the buildup. But the team's third attempt beating the keeper counted. Vitalii Mykolenko delivered a lovely cross to the back post when left unmarked on the left by Tim Iroegbunam. Tarkowski met it with a thumping header off the crossbar and, though the midfielder fluffed his lines, his teammate Gueye finished from close range. The sense of release inside the ground was evident.

The home side had a third goal ruled out early in the second half after the playmaker scored from a further excellent delivery from the left. The attacker had laid off the ball into Barry, who was in an offside position when challenging Joachim Anderson for the ball that reached the Everton midfielder. The team would have to wait until the 81st minute for the security of a two-goal lead. Dewsbury-Hall was the architect with a set-piece that Keane glanced past Leno. He scored with the back of his shoulder, and Fulham’s appeals for handball were dismissed by the video official.

Silva’s side posed more danger after the introductions of Josh King, Rodrigo Muniz and Adama Traoré. The Everton keeper saved well with his feet to deny Muniz finding the net with his initial involvement and stopped the speedster with another important stop in the dying moments.