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David Moyes had stressed before Fulham's visit that the onus for finding the back of the net must not fall solely on the team's forwards. “I expect more goals from my centre-halves and midfielders as well,” he declared. The Senegalese midfielder and Michael Keane responded perfectly, earning a fully deserved victory over Marco Silva’s ineffective team.

Everton’s second victory in nine outings was largely untroubled as Fulham demonstrated the reason their top marksman this season is opposition own goals. Aside from a brief flurry in the latter period, the away side were contained all match by the home team's greater urgency and quality. Moyes’ team had three efforts disallowed for offside, but a close-range strike from the midfielder in first-half stoppage time and the defender's second-half header ensured there would be no reprieve for the former Everton manager.

No player was more in need of scoring as much as Thierno Barry, the Everton attacker who had failed to register a shot on target in 10 league games without a shot on target after his £27m summer arrival from Villarreal and spurned a gilt-edged chance to put his team 2-0 up at the Stadium of Light on Monday. The youngster directed the first opportunity of the game over Bernd Leno’s goal frame when picked out by Iliman Ndiaye’s fine cross.

The home side dominated the opening stages and the Fulham goalkeeper tipped over James Garner’s 30-yard free-kick, awarded after Sasa Lukic was booked for hauling down Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall. The Serbian tripped the same player later in the half but the official, the man in charge, rightly ignored home protests for a sending off. Silva was taking no further chances, however, and substituted the midfielder at the break.

Barry thought his fortune had changed at last when arriving at the far post to turn in a low cross by Gueye. But the elation of a maiden strike was wiped out by an linesman's decision. The attacker was offside when going for the delivery, and missing, and the VAR supported the on-field decision. The forward's bad luck may have continued in front of goal, but his all-round performance justified Moyes’ decision to stick with him. His movement and work-rate kept busy Fulham’s central defenders and helped give the hosts the edge throughout.

The Londoners came into the contest slowly with Sander Berge and the former Everton midfielder Alex Iwobi working well in the engine room, but the early danger from the visitors was minimal. Raúl Jiménez fired weakly at Jordon Pickford when teed up inside the area by his teammate and sent a free-kick from a promising location directly at the Everton wall. That summed up their attacking output.

The Blues, inspired by the midfielder and Ndiaye, had a second goal disallowed for offside when the Fulham goalkeeper parried a effort from Keane and the captain volleyed in the rebound. The home captain had just strayed offside when heading on Jack Grealish’s delivery in the buildup. But the team's third attempt past the keeper did stand. Vitalii Mykolenko delivered a lovely cross to the far post when left unmarked on the left flank by the youngster. Tarkowski met it with a powerful nod against the bar and, though the midfielder mishit the rebound, his midfield partner the scorer finished from point-blank. The sense of release inside Hill Dickinson Stadium was evident.

Everton had a further effort ruled out after the restart after Dewsbury-Hall scored from a further excellent Mykolenko cross. The attacker had laid off the delivery into the striker, who was offside when challenging the Fulham defender for the touch that fell to the home player. The team would have to be patient until the closing stages for the comfort of a second goal. The provider was the architect with a set-piece that Keane glanced over Leno. He did so with the back of his shoulder, and the visitors' protests for handball were rejected by VAR.

Silva’s side posed more danger after the introductions of Josh King, the Brazilian and Adama Traoré. The Everton keeper saved well with his feet to deny Muniz finding the net with his initial involvement and denied the speedster with a crucial save late on.