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David Moyes had stressed before Fulham's visit that the responsibility for scoring goals must not rest only on the team's strikers. “I want more goals from my defenders and midfielders as well,” he declared. The Senegalese midfielder and Michael Keane rose to the occasion, delivering a merited victory over the opposition's ineffective team.

The Merseyside club's second win in nine outings was fairly straightforward as the visitors demonstrated the reason their top marksman this season is goals gifted by opponents. Aside from a short spell in the latter period, the away side were subdued all match by the home team's superior intensity and quality. The Blues had three efforts ruled out for offside, but a poacher’s finish from Gueye in first-half stoppage time and Keane’s late conversion made sure there would be no comeback for their ex-coach.

No player was more in need of scoring more than Thierno Barry, the Goodison Park 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 missed a clear opportunity to put his team two goals ahead at the Stadium of Light on Monday. The youngster headed the first opportunity of the game wide of Bernd Leno’s goal frame when picked out by Iliman Ndiaye’s excellent delivery.

Everton dominated the opening stages and the visiting shot-stopper tipped over the midfielder's 30-yard free-kick, given after Sasa Lukic was booked for hauling down Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall. The Serbian tripped the identical opponent later in the half but the referee, the man in charge, correctly waved away home protests for a sending off. Silva was taking no further chances, though, and substituted the midfielder at the interval.

Barry believed his fortune had finally turned when arriving at the far post to convert a drilled pass by his teammate. But the elation of a maiden strike was wiped out by an assistant referee’s flag. The attacker was offside when going for Gueye’s cross, and failing to connect, and the video assistant referee supported the on-field decision. Barry’s misfortune may have continued in the final third, but his all-round performance justified the manager's choice to keep the faith. His runs and work-rate kept busy Fulham’s central defenders and contributed to the hosts the upper hand all game.

The Londoners came into the contest gradually with Sander Berge and the ex-Goodison player Alex Iwobi working well in the engine room, but the early danger from the away team was minimal. The Mexican striker fired weakly at Jordon Pickford when set up inside the area by Iwobi and put a free-kick from a promising location directly at the Everton wall. And that was it.

The Blues, inspired by the midfielder and the forward, had a another strike disallowed for offside when the Fulham goalkeeper saved a Keane header and the captain volleyed in the loose ball. The skipper had moved offside when nodding down Jack Grealish’s cross in the build-up. But the team's next effort past the keeper counted. Vitalii Mykolenko floated a lovely cross to the back post when found in space on the left by Tim Iroegbunam. Tarkowski connected with a thumping header off the crossbar and, though Iroegbunam fluffed his lines, his midfield partner the scorer converted from point-blank. The sense of release inside Hill Dickinson Stadium was palpable.

The home side had a further effort disallowed after the restart after Dewsbury-Hall scored from a further excellent delivery from the left. The attacker had cushioned the delivery into Barry, who was offside when competing with the Fulham defender for the touch that fell to the Everton midfielder. Everton would have to wait until the closing stages for the comfort of a two-goal lead. The provider was the architect with a corner that Keane glanced over Leno. He did so with the upper body, and Fulham’s appeals for handball were rejected by the video official.

Fulham posed more danger after the substitutions of Josh King, the Brazilian and the winger. The Everton keeper made a fine stop with his legs to deny the substitute scoring with his initial involvement and denied Traoré with another important stop in the dying moments.