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David Moyes had made clear before the match against Fulham that the onus for scoring goals should not fall solely on his side's forwards. “I want more goals from my defenders and central players as well,” he declared. The Senegalese midfielder and the English defender rose to the occasion, earning a fully deserved victory over the opposition's toothless side.

The Merseyside club's second win in nine outings was relatively comfortable as the visitors highlighted why their leading scorer this season is goals gifted by opponents. Apart from a brief flurry in the latter period, the visitors were kept quiet throughout by Everton’s greater urgency and quality. The Blues had three efforts ruled out for offside, but a close-range strike from the midfielder in first-half stoppage time and Keane’s late conversion made sure there would be no comeback for the former Everton manager.

No player needed a goal as much as Thierno Barry, the Goodison Park forward who had gone 10 Premier League outings without testing the goalkeeper after his big-money move from the Spanish side and missed a gilt-edged chance to put his team 2-0 up at the Stadium of Light on Monday. The 23-year-old directed the earliest chance of the game over the Fulham keeper's goal frame when picked out by his teammate's fine cross.

Everton dominated the opening stages and the visiting shot-stopper pushed over the midfielder's long-range set-piece, awarded after Sasa Lukic was yellow-carded for fouling Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall. Lukic brought down the identical opponent again before halftime but the official, the man in charge, correctly waved away home protests for a sending off. Silva was not risking anything, however, and withdrew the player at the break.

Barry thought his fortune had finally turned when sliding in at the back post to convert a low cross by Gueye. But the elation of a maiden strike was erased by an linesman's decision. Ndiaye was in an illegal position when attacking Gueye’s cross, and missing, and the VAR supported the original call. The forward's bad luck may have continued in front of goal, but his overall display validated the manager's choice to stick with him. His runs and work-rate kept busy Fulham’s central defenders and helped give Everton the edge throughout.

The Londoners grew into the game gradually with the Norwegian and the ex-Goodison player the Nigerian working well in the engine room, but the early danger from the away team was limited. Raúl Jiménez fired weakly at Jordon Pickford when set 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 second goal chalked off for an infringement when Leno parried a effort from Keane and the captain volleyed in the rebound. The skipper had just strayed offside when heading on the winger's cross in the build-up. But the team's next effort past the keeper did stand. Vitalii Mykolenko delivered a lovely cross to the back post when found in space on the left flank by the youngster. The defender connected with a thumping header off the crossbar and, though the midfielder mishit the rebound, his teammate the scorer converted from point-blank. The relief inside the ground was evident.

Everton had a third goal ruled out after the restart after the playmaker found the bottom corner from a further excellent Mykolenko cross. The attacker had cushioned the ball into Barry, who was offside when competing with Joachim Anderson for the touch that fell to the Everton midfielder. The team would have to wait until the closing stages for the security of a two-goal lead. The provider was the architect with a corner that Keane glanced over the goalkeeper. He did so with the back of his shoulder, and Fulham’s appeals for handball were dismissed by the video official.

Fulham posed more danger after the introductions of Josh King, the Brazilian and Adama Traoré. The Everton keeper made a fine stop with his legs to deny the substitute scoring with his initial involvement and stopped Traoré with a crucial save late on.