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The Everton manager had emphasized before the match against Fulham that the responsibility for finding the back of the net should not fall solely on the team's forwards. “I want more goals from my centre-halves and central players as well,” he declared. Idrissa Gueye and the English defender duly obliged, delivering a well-earned victory over Marco Silva’s toothless team.

The Merseyside club's second win in nine outings was relatively comfortable as Fulham demonstrated the reason their leading scorer this season is opposition own goals. Apart from a brief flurry in the second half, the visitors were kept quiet throughout by Everton’s greater urgency and quality. The Blues had three goals ruled out for offside, but a poacher’s finish from Gueye 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 one was more in need of scoring as much as 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 the Spanish side and missed a gilt-edged chance to put his team 2-0 up at the Stadium of Light earlier in the week. The 23-year-old headed the first opportunity of the game wide of the Fulham keeper's crossbar when found by Iliman Ndiaye’s excellent delivery.

Everton controlled the early exchanges and the visiting shot-stopper tipped over James Garner’s long-range set-piece, awarded after the Fulham player was yellow-carded for fouling the Everton midfielder. The Serbian brought down the identical opponent later in the half but the official, the man in charge, rightly ignored Everton appeals for a second yellow. Silva was not risking anything, however, and withdrew the player at the interval.

The striker thought his luck had finally turned when sliding in at the back post to convert a low cross by Gueye. But the joy of a maiden strike was wiped out by an assistant referee’s flag. Ndiaye was in an illegal position when attacking Gueye’s cross, and failing to connect, and the video assistant referee supported the on-field decision. Barry’s misfortune may have persisted in front of goal, but his overall display validated the manager's choice to keep the faith. His movement and work-rate occupied the opposition's back line and helped give Everton the edge throughout.

Fulham grew into the game slowly with the Norwegian and the former Everton midfielder Alex Iwobi working well in midfield, but the first half threat from the away team was minimal. The Mexican striker fired weakly 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 effort from Keane and the captain volleyed in the loose ball. The skipper had moved offside when nodding down Jack Grealish’s delivery in the buildup. But Everton’s third attempt past Leno did stand. Vitalii Mykolenko floated a lovely cross to the back post when found in space on the left by the youngster. Tarkowski met it with a thumping header against the bar and, though Iroegbunam mishit the rebound, his teammate the scorer finished from close range. The relief inside the ground was evident.

Everton had a third goal disallowed after the restart after Dewsbury-Hall found the bottom corner from another inviting Mykolenko cross. The attacker had laid off the ball into the striker, who was offside when competing with the Fulham defender for the ball that reached the home player. The team would have to be patient until the closing stages for the security of a second goal. The provider was the architect with a set-piece that Keane glanced past the goalkeeper. He scored with the back of his shoulder, and the visitors' protests for a handball were rejected by VAR.

Silva’s side posed more danger following the introductions of the forward, Rodrigo Muniz and Adama Traoré. The Everton keeper made a fine stop with his feet to deny Muniz finding the net with his initial involvement and stopped Traoré with another important stop late on.