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The Everton manager had made clear before Fulham's visit that the onus for scoring goals must not fall solely on his side's forwards. “I demand more goals from my defenders and midfielders as well,” he insisted. The Senegalese midfielder and Michael Keane duly obliged, securing a merited victory over Marco Silva’s ineffective team.

The Merseyside club's second victory in nine matches was largely untroubled as the visitors showed the reason their leading scorer this season is opposition own goals. Aside from a brief flurry in the second half, the visitors were contained all match by the home team's greater urgency and technical ability. The Blues had three goals disallowed for offside, but a poacher’s finish from Gueye in added time before the break and Keane’s late conversion ensured there would be no reprieve for the former Everton manager.

No one was more in need of scoring as much as the young striker, the Goodison Park 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 clear opportunity to put his team 2-0 up at the Stadium of Light earlier in the week. The 23-year-old directed the first opportunity of the game over Bernd Leno’s goal frame when found by Iliman Ndiaye’s fine cross.

The home side controlled the opening stages and the Fulham goalkeeper pushed over James Garner’s long-range set-piece, awarded after Sasa Lukic was yellow-carded for fouling Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall. Lukic tripped the same player later in the half but the official, Andrew Madley, rightly ignored Everton appeals for a second yellow. Silva was not risking anything, though, and substituted the player at the interval.

The striker thought his luck had finally turned when sliding in at the back post to turn in a drilled pass by Gueye. But the elation of a maiden strike was wiped out by an assistant referee’s flag. Ndiaye was offside when going for the delivery, and failing to connect, and the video assistant referee backed up the original call. The forward's bad luck may have persisted in the final third, but his all-round performance validated Moyes’ decision to keep the faith. His movement and effort occupied Fulham’s central defenders and helped give the hosts the upper hand all game.

The Londoners came into the contest gradually with the Norwegian and the former Everton midfielder Alex Iwobi working well in the engine room, but the early danger from the visitors was minimal. Raúl Jiménez shot tamely at the England keeper when teed up in the box by his teammate and sent a free-kick from a dangerous position directly at the defensive barrier. That summed up their attacking output.

Everton, inspired by the midfielder and Ndiaye, had a second goal chalked off for an infringement when the Fulham goalkeeper saved a effort from Keane and the captain fired home the loose ball. The skipper had just strayed beyond the last defender when nodding down Jack Grealish’s delivery in the buildup. But Everton’s third attempt past Leno did stand. Vitalii Mykolenko floated a perfect ball to the far post when found in space on the left by Tim Iroegbunam. Tarkowski connected with a thumping header against the bar and, though the midfielder mishit the rebound, his teammate the scorer finished from point-blank. The sense of release inside Hill Dickinson Stadium was evident.

Everton had a third goal ruled out early in the second half after the playmaker found the bottom corner from a further excellent delivery from the left. Ndiaye had cushioned the delivery into the striker, who was offside when challenging the Fulham defender for the ball that reached the Everton midfielder. Everton would have to be patient until the 81st minute for the comfort of a two-goal lead. Dewsbury-Hall was the architect with a set-piece that Keane directed past Leno. He scored with the upper body, and the visitors' protests for handball were dismissed by VAR.

Silva’s side posed more danger after the introductions of Josh King, Rodrigo Muniz and the winger. Pickford made a fine stop with his feet to deny Muniz finding the net with his first touch and stopped the speedster with a crucial save in the dying moments.