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David Moyes had emphasized before Fulham's visit that the onus for finding the back of the net must not fall solely on the team's forwards. “I expect more goals from my defenders and midfielders as well,” he declared. The Senegalese midfielder and Michael Keane rose to the occasion, earning a fully deserved victory over Marco Silva’s toothless side.

The Merseyside club's second win in nine matches was relatively comfortable as Fulham highlighted why their top marksman this season is goals gifted by opponents. Apart from a short spell in the second half, the away side were kept quiet all match by Everton’s greater urgency and technical ability. The Blues had three goals ruled out for infringements, but a poacher’s finish from Gueye in added time before the break and the defender's late conversion made sure there would be no reprieve for the former Everton manager.

No player was more in need of scoring more than the young striker, the Everton forward who had failed to register a shot on target in 10 league games without testing the goalkeeper after his big-money move from Villarreal and spurned a clear opportunity to put his team two goals ahead at Sunderland on Monday. The 23-year-old directed the earliest chance of the game wide of Bernd Leno’s goal frame when found by Iliman Ndiaye’s excellent delivery.

Everton dominated the opening stages and the Fulham goalkeeper pushed over the midfielder's 30-yard free-kick, given after the Fulham player 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 Everton appeals for a second yellow. Silva was taking no further chances, however, and substituted the player at the interval.

The striker believed his luck had finally turned when arriving at the far post to convert a low cross by his teammate. But the joy of a maiden strike was erased by an assistant referee’s flag. Ndiaye was offside when attacking Gueye’s cross, and missing, and the video assistant referee supported the original call. The forward's bad luck may have continued in the final third, but his overall display validated Moyes’ decision to stick with him. His runs and work-rate kept busy Fulham’s central defenders and helped give the hosts the edge throughout.

The Londoners came into the contest slowly with Sander Berge and the ex-Goodison player Alex Iwobi working well in the engine room, but the first half threat from the visitors was limited. Raúl Jiménez shot tamely at the England keeper when teed up inside the area by his teammate and sent a free-kick from a promising location directly at the defensive barrier. And that was it.

Everton, inspired by the midfielder and the forward, had a another strike disallowed for an infringement when Leno saved a effort from Keane and the captain fired home the rebound. The home captain had just strayed offside when nodding down Jack Grealish’s delivery in the build-up. But Everton’s next effort beating Leno did stand. Vitalii Mykolenko floated a lovely cross to the back post when found in space on the left flank by Tim Iroegbunam. The defender connected with a powerful nod against the bar and, though Iroegbunam fluffed his lines, his teammate the scorer finished from close range. The sense of release inside the ground was palpable.

The home side had a third goal ruled out after the restart after Dewsbury-Hall found the bottom corner from a further excellent Mykolenko cross. The attacker had cushioned 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 be patient until the closing stages for the security of a two-goal lead. The provider was the creator with a corner that Keane directed past Leno. He did so with the back of his shoulder, and Fulham’s appeals for a handball were rejected by VAR.

Fulham posed more danger following the substitutions of Josh King, the Brazilian and Adama Traoré. Pickford made a fine stop with his legs to deny Muniz scoring with his initial involvement and stopped Traoré with another important stop late on.