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David Moyes had stressed before the match against Fulham that the responsibility for finding the back of the net must not fall solely on his side's forwards. “I want more goals from my centre-halves and midfielders as well,” he stated. The Senegalese midfielder and the English defender duly obliged, delivering a fully deserved victory over Marco Silva’s ineffective team.

The Merseyside club's second win in nine outings was fairly straightforward as the visitors demonstrated the reason their leading scorer this season is opposition own goals. Apart from a brief flurry in the latter period, the visitors were subdued throughout by Everton’s superior intensity and quality. Moyes’ team had three goals disallowed for infringements, but a close-range strike from the midfielder in added time before the break and Keane’s second-half header made sure there would be no comeback for the former Everton manager.

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 two goals ahead at Sunderland earlier in the week. The 23-year-old directed the first opportunity of the game wide of the Fulham keeper's crossbar when found by Iliman Ndiaye’s excellent delivery.

The home side controlled the early exchanges and the Fulham goalkeeper tipped over James Garner’s long-range set-piece, given after Sasa Lukic was booked for fouling Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall. The Serbian brought down the same player later in the half but the referee, Andrew Madley, rightly ignored Everton appeals for a second yellow. Silva was taking no further chances, though, and withdrew the midfielder at the interval.

Barry believed his fortune had finally turned when sliding in at the back post to turn in a low cross by Gueye. But the elation of a first Everton goal was erased by an linesman's decision. Ndiaye was offside when going for the delivery, and failing to connect, and the video assistant referee backed up the on-field decision. Barry’s misfortune may have continued in front of goal, but his overall display validated the manager's choice to keep the faith. His movement and work-rate kept busy the opposition's back line and contributed to the hosts the upper hand all game.

Fulham grew into the game slowly with Sander Berge and the former Everton midfielder the Nigerian combining effectively in midfield, but the first half threat from the visitors was limited. Raúl Jiménez 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 the midfielder and Ndiaye, had a second goal disallowed for an infringement when the Fulham goalkeeper saved a Keane header and the captain fired home the rebound. The home captain had just strayed offside when heading on the winger's delivery in the build-up. But the team's next effort past the keeper counted. Vitalii Mykolenko floated a perfect ball to the far post when left unmarked on the left flank by the youngster. Tarkowski connected with a powerful nod off the crossbar and, though Iroegbunam mishit the rebound, his teammate Gueye converted from close range. The sense of release inside the ground was palpable.

Everton had a further effort disallowed after the restart after the playmaker found the bottom corner from another inviting delivery from the left. The attacker had laid off the ball into Barry, who was in an offside position when competing with Joachim Anderson for the touch that fell to the home player. The team would have to be patient until the closing stages for the comfort of a second goal. Dewsbury-Hall 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 rejected by the video official.

Silva’s side posed more danger following the introductions of the forward, Rodrigo Muniz and the winger. Pickford made a fine stop with his feet to deny the substitute scoring with his first touch and stopped the speedster with a crucial save late on.