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The Everton manager had emphasized before the match against Fulham that the onus for finding the back of the net should not fall solely on the team's forwards. “I demand more goals from my centre-halves and midfielders as well,” he insisted. The Senegalese midfielder and Michael Keane duly obliged, securing a merited victory over Marco Silva’s toothless team.

The Merseyside club's second win in nine matches was largely untroubled as the visitors showed why their leading scorer this season is opposition own goals. Apart from a brief flurry in the second half, the away side were subdued all match by Everton’s greater urgency and quality. The Blues had three efforts disallowed for offside, but a poacher’s finish from the midfielder in first-half stoppage time and Keane’s late conversion ensured there would be no comeback for the former Everton manager.

No player was more in need of scoring as much as Thierno Barry, 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 Villarreal and spurned a clear opportunity to put his team 2-0 up at Sunderland earlier in the week. The 23-year-old directed the first opportunity of the game over the Fulham keeper's goal frame when found by Iliman Ndiaye’s excellent delivery.

Everton dominated the opening stages and the Fulham goalkeeper tipped over James Garner’s 30-yard free-kick, awarded after Sasa Lukic was booked for fouling Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall. Lukic tripped the same player again before halftime but the referee, the man in charge, rightly ignored home protests for a second yellow. The Fulham boss was taking no further chances, though, and withdrew the midfielder at the break.

The striker thought his luck had finally turned when arriving at the back post to turn in a drilled pass by Gueye. But the joy of a first Everton goal was wiped out by an linesman's decision. The attacker was offside when attacking the delivery, and failing to connect, and the video assistant referee supported the original call. The forward's bad luck may have persisted in the final third, but his overall display justified the manager's choice to stick with him. His runs and work-rate occupied Fulham’s central defenders and helped give Everton the edge throughout.

Fulham came into the contest gradually with Sander Berge and the former Everton midfielder the Nigerian working well in the engine room, but the first half threat 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 straight into the defensive barrier. And that was it.

Everton, inspired by Dewsbury-Hall and the forward, had a second goal disallowed for offside when the Fulham goalkeeper saved a effort from Keane and the captain fired home the loose ball. The skipper had just strayed offside when heading on the winger's cross in the build-up. But the team's next effort past Leno did stand. The left-back delivered a perfect ball to the back post when left unmarked on the left flank by the youngster. The defender connected with a powerful nod against the bar and, though Iroegbunam fluffed his lines, his midfield partner Gueye finished from point-blank. The relief inside the ground was evident.

Everton had a further effort ruled out early in the second half after Dewsbury-Hall scored from a further excellent Mykolenko cross. The attacker had laid off the delivery into Barry, who was offside when competing with the Fulham defender for the touch that fell to the Everton midfielder. The team would have to wait until the 81st minute for the security of a two-goal lead. Dewsbury-Hall was the creator with a set-piece that Keane directed past Leno. He did so with the back of his shoulder, and the visitors' protests for handball were dismissed by the video official.

Fulham posed more danger following the introductions of Josh King, the Brazilian and Adama Traoré. The Everton keeper saved well with his feet to prevent Muniz scoring with his first touch and denied the speedster with another important stop in the dying moments.