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David Moyes had emphasized before the match against Fulham that the onus for scoring goals should not fall solely on the team's strikers. “I demand more goals from my centre-halves and central players as well,” he stated. Idrissa Gueye and the English defender duly obliged, delivering a fully deserved victory over Marco Silva’s ineffective side.

The Merseyside club's second victory in nine outings was fairly straightforward as Fulham highlighted the reason their top marksman this season is opposition own goals. Aside from a short spell in the latter period, the visitors were kept quiet throughout by Everton’s superior intensity and technical ability. The Blues had three goals disallowed for offside, but a poacher’s finish from Gueye in added time before the break and Keane’s late conversion made sure there would be no reprieve for their ex-coach.

No one was more in need of scoring as much as the young striker, the Everton attacker who had gone 10 Premier League outings without testing the goalkeeper after his big-money move from the Spanish side and spurned a clear opportunity to put his team 2-0 up at the Stadium of Light on Monday. The youngster headed the earliest chance of the game wide of Bernd Leno’s goal frame when found by Iliman Ndiaye’s excellent delivery.

The home side controlled the opening stages and the Fulham goalkeeper pushed over the midfielder's long-range set-piece, awarded after Sasa Lukic was booked for hauling down Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall. Lukic brought down the identical opponent again before halftime but the referee, Andrew Madley, correctly waved away Everton appeals for a second yellow. The Fulham boss was not risking anything, though, and substituted the midfielder at the interval.

Barry believed his luck had finally turned when arriving at the back post to turn in a low cross by Gueye. But the elation of a first Everton goal was wiped out by an linesman's decision. The attacker was offside when going for Gueye’s cross, and missing, and the VAR supported the on-field decision. Barry’s misfortune may have persisted in front of goal, but his overall display justified the manager's choice to stick with him. His runs and effort occupied Fulham’s central defenders and helped give Everton the edge all game.

Fulham grew into the game gradually with Sander Berge and the former Everton midfielder Alex Iwobi working well in the engine room, but the early danger from the away team was minimal. The Mexican striker shot tamely at Jordon Pickford when teed up in the box by Iwobi and put a free-kick from a promising location straight into the defensive barrier. That summed up their attacking output.

Everton, driven on by Dewsbury-Hall and Ndiaye, had a another strike chalked off for an infringement when Leno parried a Keane header and James Tarkowski fired home the rebound. The home captain had moved offside when nodding down the winger's cross in the buildup. But Everton’s third attempt beating the keeper counted. Vitalii Mykolenko floated a perfect ball 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 the midfielder mishit the rebound, his midfield partner the scorer converted from close range. 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 delivery from the left. Ndiaye had laid off the delivery into Barry, who was in an offside position when challenging the Fulham defender for the touch that fell to the Everton midfielder. 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 glanced over Leno. He did so with the back of his shoulder, and the visitors' protests for handball were dismissed by the video official.

Fulham posed more danger following the substitutions of the forward, the Brazilian and the winger. The Everton keeper made a fine stop with his feet to prevent Muniz finding the net with his initial involvement and stopped Traoré with a crucial save in the dying moments.