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David Moyes had stressed before the match against Fulham that the onus for scoring goals must not fall solely on the team's forwards. “I demand more goals from my centre-halves and midfielders as well,” he insisted. Idrissa Gueye and the English defender rose to the occasion, 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 why their top marksman this season is opposition own goals. Aside from a brief flurry in the second half, the away side were contained throughout by Everton’s greater urgency and quality. Moyes’ team had three goals ruled out for infringements, but a close-range strike from the midfielder in added time before the break and Keane’s late conversion 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 Everton forward who had failed to register a shot on target in 10 league games without a shot on target after his big-money move from the Spanish side and spurned a gilt-edged chance to put his team 2-0 up at the Stadium of Light earlier in the week. The youngster headed the earliest chance of the game over the Fulham keeper's goal frame when picked out by Iliman Ndiaye’s excellent delivery.

Everton dominated the opening stages and the visiting shot-stopper pushed over James Garner’s long-range set-piece, awarded after Sasa Lukic was booked for fouling Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall. The Serbian brought down the identical opponent later in the half but the referee, the man in charge, rightly ignored home protests for a second yellow. The Fulham boss was not risking anything, however, and substituted the player at the break.

Barry thought his fortune had finally turned when arriving at the far 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 going for Gueye’s cross, and missing, and the video assistant referee backed up the on-field decision. Barry’s misfortune may have persisted in the final third, but his overall display validated the manager's choice to stick with him. His movement and effort kept busy Fulham’s central defenders and contributed to Everton the upper hand all game.

The Londoners came into the contest slowly with Sander Berge and the ex-Goodison player the Nigerian working well in midfield, but the first half threat from the visitors was minimal. Raúl Jiménez fired weakly at Jordon Pickford when teed up inside the area by Iwobi and sent a free-kick from a promising location directly at the Everton wall. And that was it.

The Blues, inspired by the midfielder and Ndiaye, had a second goal disallowed for offside when the Fulham goalkeeper saved a Keane header and James Tarkowski volleyed in the rebound. The home captain had moved offside when nodding down Jack Grealish’s cross in the build-up. But the team's next effort past the keeper counted. The left-back floated a perfect ball to the back post when left unmarked on the left by Tim Iroegbunam. Tarkowski connected with a thumping header against the bar and, though Iroegbunam fluffed his lines, his teammate the scorer finished from close range. The sense of release inside the ground was evident.

Everton had a further effort ruled out early in the second half after the playmaker scored from another inviting Mykolenko cross. The attacker had cushioned the delivery into Barry, who was in an offside position when competing with the Fulham defender for the ball that reached the home player. Everton would have to be patient until the closing stages for the security of a two-goal lead. Dewsbury-Hall was the creator with a set-piece that the defender glanced over the goalkeeper. He scored with the back of his shoulder, and the visitors' protests for handball were rejected by VAR.

Silva’s side carried more of a threat after the introductions of Josh King, the Brazilian and Adama Traoré. The Everton keeper made a fine stop with his feet to deny Muniz scoring with his initial involvement and denied Traoré with a crucial save in the dying moments.