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David Moyes had made clear before Fulham's visit that the responsibility for scoring goals should not rest only on his side's forwards. “I demand more goals from my centre-halves and central players as well,” he stated. Idrissa Gueye and Michael Keane rose to the occasion, earning a merited victory over the opposition's ineffective team.

The Merseyside club's second win in nine outings was largely untroubled as the visitors demonstrated why their leading scorer this season is goals gifted by opponents. Apart from a brief flurry in the second half, the away side were contained throughout by the home team's greater urgency and technical ability. The Blues had three goals ruled out for infringements, 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 comeback for the former Everton manager.

No player was more in need of scoring as much as Thierno Barry, the Everton forward who had gone 10 Premier League outings without a shot on target after his £27m summer arrival from Villarreal and spurned a gilt-edged chance to put his team two goals ahead at the Stadium of Light earlier in the week. The 23-year-old headed the earliest chance of the game over Bernd Leno’s crossbar when picked out by Iliman Ndiaye’s fine cross.

Everton controlled the early exchanges and the Fulham goalkeeper tipped over the midfielder's long-range set-piece, awarded after Sasa Lukic was yellow-carded for fouling the Everton midfielder. Lukic brought down the identical opponent again before halftime but the official, Andrew Madley, correctly waved away home protests for a second yellow. Silva was taking no further chances, though, and substituted the player at the break.

The striker thought his fortune had changed at last when sliding in at the far post to convert a drilled pass by Gueye. But the joy of a maiden strike was erased by an assistant referee’s flag. The attacker was offside when going for the delivery, and failing to connect, and the VAR backed up the on-field decision. The forward's bad luck may have continued in front of goal, but his all-round performance validated the manager's choice to keep the faith. His movement and work-rate occupied the opposition's back line and helped give Everton the upper hand throughout.

Fulham grew into the game gradually with Sander Berge and the ex-Goodison player Alex Iwobi working well in midfield, but the early danger from the away team was minimal. The Mexican striker fired weakly at the England keeper when set up in the box by his teammate and sent a set-piece from a promising location directly at the defensive barrier. That summed up their attacking output.

The Blues, driven on by the midfielder and the forward, had a second goal disallowed for an infringement when the Fulham goalkeeper parried a effort from Keane and James Tarkowski fired home the rebound. The home captain had moved beyond the last defender when nodding down Jack Grealish’s cross in the buildup. But the team's third attempt beating Leno counted. Vitalii Mykolenko floated a lovely cross to the far post when found in space on the left by the youngster. The defender met it with a thumping header off the crossbar and, though the midfielder fluffed his lines, his midfield partner Gueye finished from point-blank. The relief inside the ground was palpable.

Everton had a third goal ruled out after the restart after Dewsbury-Hall scored from a further excellent Mykolenko cross. Ndiaye had cushioned the delivery into Barry, who was in an offside position when challenging Joachim Anderson for the touch that reached the home player. The team would have to wait until the 81st minute for the comfort of a two-goal lead. Dewsbury-Hall was the architect with a set-piece that Keane glanced over the goalkeeper. He did so with the back of his shoulder, and the visitors' protests for handball were dismissed by the video official.

Silva’s side posed more danger after the introductions of Josh King, the Brazilian and Adama Traoré. The Everton keeper saved well with his legs to deny Muniz scoring with his first touch and stopped Traoré with a crucial save in the dying moments.