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David Moyes had stressed before the match against Fulham that the responsibility for finding the back of the net should not rest only on the team's strikers. “I expect more goals from my defenders and midfielders as well,” he stated. Idrissa Gueye and the English defender duly obliged, earning a merited victory over Marco Silva’s ineffective team.

The Merseyside club's second win in nine outings was largely untroubled as the visitors highlighted the reason their top marksman this season is opposition own goals. Aside from a short spell in the latter period, the away side were contained all match by Everton’s superior intensity and technical ability. The Blues had three efforts disallowed for infringements, but a close-range strike from the midfielder in first-half stoppage time and the defender's second-half header made sure there would be no comeback for their ex-coach.

No player needed a goal more than the young striker, the Everton forward who had gone 10 Premier League outings without a shot on target after his £27m summer arrival from the Spanish side and spurned a gilt-edged chance to put his team 2-0 up at Sunderland on Monday. The 23-year-old headed the first opportunity of the game over the Fulham keeper's crossbar when found by Iliman Ndiaye’s fine cross.

Everton controlled the early exchanges and the visiting shot-stopper tipped over James Garner’s 30-yard free-kick, given after Sasa Lukic was yellow-carded for hauling down Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall. The Serbian brought down the identical opponent later in the half but the referee, the man in charge, rightly ignored Everton appeals for a sending off. The Fulham boss was not risking anything, however, and substituted the player at the interval.

The striker believed his luck had finally turned when sliding in at the back post to turn in a drilled pass by his teammate. But the elation of a first Everton goal was wiped out by an assistant referee’s flag. Ndiaye was offside when attacking Gueye’s cross, and missing, and the video assistant referee backed up the on-field decision. Barry’s misfortune may have persisted in front of goal, but his all-round performance justified Moyes’ decision to keep the faith. His runs and effort kept busy Fulham’s central defenders and helped give Everton the edge all game.

Fulham grew into the game slowly with Sander Berge and the ex-Goodison player Alex Iwobi combining effectively in midfield, but the first half threat from the away team was minimal. Raúl Jiménez fired weakly at Jordon Pickford when teed up inside the area by Iwobi and sent a free-kick from a dangerous position directly at the Everton wall. And that was it.

Everton, inspired by the midfielder and the forward, had a another strike chalked off for an infringement when the Fulham goalkeeper parried a Keane header and the captain volleyed in the loose ball. The home captain had moved offside when nodding down the winger's cross in the buildup. But the team's third attempt past Leno counted. Vitalii Mykolenko floated a perfect ball to the far post when found in space on the left by Tim Iroegbunam. Tarkowski met it with a powerful nod against the bar and, though the midfielder mishit the rebound, his midfield partner Gueye finished from close range. The relief inside Hill Dickinson Stadium was evident.

The home side had a further effort disallowed early in the second half after Dewsbury-Hall found the bottom corner from a further excellent Mykolenko cross. Ndiaye had laid off the ball into Barry, who was offside when challenging the Fulham defender for the ball that reached the Everton midfielder. The team would have to wait until the closing stages for the comfort of a second goal. Dewsbury-Hall was the creator with a corner that the defender glanced over the goalkeeper. He scored with the back of his shoulder, and Fulham’s appeals for a handball were dismissed by VAR.

Fulham posed more danger following the substitutions of the forward, Rodrigo Muniz and the winger. The Everton keeper made a fine stop with his feet to prevent the substitute finding the net with his first touch and stopped Traoré with another important stop in the dying moments.