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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 fall solely on his side's forwards. “I want more goals from my centre-halves and midfielders as well,” he insisted. The Senegalese midfielder and Michael Keane rose to the occasion, delivering a fully deserved victory over the opposition's toothless side.

The Merseyside club's second victory in nine matches was largely untroubled as the visitors highlighted why their leading scorer this season is goals gifted by opponents. Aside from a brief flurry in the second half, the visitors were contained all match by Everton’s greater urgency and quality. The Blues had three goals disallowed for offside, but a poacher’s finish from Gueye in added time before the break and Keane’s second-half header made sure there would be no comeback for their ex-coach.

No one needed a goal more than Thierno Barry, the Everton attacker who had gone 10 Premier League outings without a shot on target after his £27m summer arrival from the Spanish side and missed a clear opportunity to put his team two goals ahead at the Stadium of Light on Monday. The youngster directed the first opportunity of the game over Bernd Leno’s crossbar when found by his teammate's fine cross.

The home side dominated the early exchanges and the Fulham goalkeeper tipped over James Garner’s 30-yard free-kick, given after the Fulham player was booked for fouling the Everton midfielder. Lukic tripped the identical opponent again before halftime but the referee, the man in charge, rightly ignored home protests for a sending off. Silva was not risking anything, though, and withdrew the player at the break.

Barry believed his luck had changed at last when arriving at the back post to convert a drilled pass by his teammate. But the joy of a maiden strike was wiped out by an linesman's decision. Ndiaye was offside when attacking the delivery, and failing to connect, and the VAR backed up the original call. Barry’s misfortune may have continued in the final third, but his overall display justified Moyes’ decision to keep the faith. His movement and effort occupied the opposition's back line and helped give Everton the edge throughout.

Fulham came into the contest gradually with the Norwegian and the former Everton midfielder Alex Iwobi combining effectively in midfield, but the early danger from the visitors was minimal. Raúl Jiménez fired weakly at Jordon Pickford when set up in the box by Iwobi and sent a free-kick from a dangerous position straight into the Everton wall. And that was it.

Everton, driven on by the midfielder and Ndiaye, had a another strike chalked off for an infringement when the Fulham goalkeeper saved a Keane header and the captain fired home the rebound. The skipper had just strayed offside when heading on the winger's delivery in the buildup. But the team's third attempt beating Leno counted. Vitalii Mykolenko floated a lovely cross to the far post when left unmarked on the left by Tim Iroegbunam. The defender met it with a powerful nod against the bar and, though Iroegbunam mishit the rebound, his teammate Gueye converted from point-blank. The sense of release inside the ground was evident.

The home side had a third goal ruled out early in the second half after the playmaker found the bottom corner from another inviting Mykolenko cross. The attacker had laid off the delivery into the striker, who was offside when competing with Joachim Anderson for the ball that fell to the Everton midfielder. Everton would have to wait until the 81st minute for the comfort of a second goal. The provider was the architect with a corner that Keane glanced past Leno. He did so with the upper body, and Fulham’s appeals for a handball were rejected by VAR.

Fulham carried more of a threat following the substitutions of Josh King, Rodrigo Muniz and Adama Traoré. Pickford saved well with his legs to prevent Muniz scoring with his first touch and denied Traoré with another important stop late on.