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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 rest only on the team's forwards. “I demand more goals from my centre-halves and midfielders as well,” he declared. The Senegalese midfielder and the English defender responded perfectly, earning a fully deserved victory over Marco Silva’s ineffective team.

Everton’s second win in nine matches was relatively comfortable as the visitors showed why their leading scorer this season is goals gifted by opponents. Aside from a brief flurry in the latter period, the visitors were subdued all match by Everton’s superior intensity and technical ability. The Blues had three efforts disallowed for infringements, but a poacher’s finish from the midfielder in added time before the break and the defender's second-half header ensured there would be no comeback for the former Everton manager.

No player needed a goal more than Thierno Barry, the Everton forward who had gone 10 Premier League outings without a shot on target after his big-money move from the Spanish side and missed a clear opportunity to put his team 2-0 up at the Stadium of Light on Monday. The 23-year-old headed the earliest chance of the game wide of Bernd Leno’s goal frame when picked out by Iliman Ndiaye’s excellent delivery.

Everton dominated the early exchanges and the Fulham goalkeeper pushed over the midfielder's 30-yard free-kick, awarded after the Fulham player was booked for hauling down Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall. 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 substituted the player at the break.

Barry believed his luck had changed at last when sliding in at the back 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 in an illegal position when going for Gueye’s cross, and failing to connect, and the video assistant referee backed up the original call. Barry’s misfortune may have persisted in the final third, but his overall display validated Moyes’ decision to keep the faith. His runs and effort occupied Fulham’s central defenders and contributed to Everton the upper hand all game.

Fulham came into the contest slowly with Sander Berge and the ex-Goodison player Alex Iwobi working well in the engine room, but the early danger from the visitors was minimal. Raúl Jiménez fired weakly at Jordon Pickford when teed up inside the area by Iwobi and put a free-kick from a dangerous position directly at the defensive barrier. That summed up their attacking output.

The Blues, driven on by Dewsbury-Hall and the forward, had a second goal chalked off for an infringement when Leno parried a effort from Keane and James Tarkowski fired home the rebound. The skipper had moved offside when nodding down the winger's cross in the build-up. But the team's next effort past Leno did stand. Vitalii Mykolenko delivered a perfect ball to the far post when found in space on the left by Tim Iroegbunam. The defender connected with a powerful nod off the crossbar and, though the midfielder mishit the rebound, his teammate the scorer converted from point-blank. The sense of release inside Hill Dickinson Stadium was evident.

Everton had a further effort disallowed after the restart after the playmaker found the bottom corner from a further excellent Mykolenko cross. The attacker had cushioned the delivery into the striker, who was in an offside position when competing with Joachim Anderson for the ball that reached the home player. Everton would have to wait until the 81st minute for the security of a second goal. The provider was the architect with a set-piece that the defender directed past the goalkeeper. He scored with the upper body, and the visitors' protests for a handball were dismissed by VAR.

Fulham posed more danger after the introductions of Josh King, Rodrigo Muniz and Adama Traoré. The Everton keeper made a fine stop with his feet to deny Muniz finding the net with his first touch and stopped Traoré with another important stop in the dying moments.