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David Moyes 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 strikers. “I want more goals from my defenders and midfielders as well,” he stated. The Senegalese midfielder and Michael Keane duly obliged, earning a merited victory over Marco Silva’s ineffective side.

The Merseyside club's second victory in nine matches was fairly straightforward as Fulham showed why their top marksman this season is opposition own goals. Apart from a short spell in the latter period, the visitors were kept quiet throughout by the home team's superior intensity and technical ability. The Blues had three goals disallowed for infringements, but a close-range strike from the midfielder in added time before the break and the defender's second-half header ensured there would be no comeback for their ex-coach.

No player needed a goal as much as the young striker, the Everton attacker who had failed to register a shot on target in 10 league games without testing the goalkeeper after his big-money move from Villarreal and spurned a gilt-edged chance to put his team two goals ahead at Sunderland earlier in the week. The youngster directed the first opportunity of the game over Bernd Leno’s goal frame when found 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 hauling down the Everton midfielder. The Serbian brought down the same player later in the half but the official, the man in charge, correctly waved away Everton appeals for a sending off. The Fulham boss was not risking anything, though, and withdrew the midfielder at the interval.

The striker believed his fortune had changed at last when arriving at the back post to turn in a low cross by Gueye. But the elation of a first Everton goal was erased by an assistant referee’s flag. Ndiaye was offside when attacking the delivery, and failing to connect, and the VAR backed up the original call. Barry’s misfortune may have persisted in the final third, but his all-round performance justified Moyes’ decision to stick with him. His runs and effort kept busy Fulham’s central defenders and helped give Everton the edge all game.

The Londoners came into the contest slowly with Sander Berge and the ex-Goodison player the Nigerian combining effectively in midfield, but the early danger from the away team was minimal. Raúl Jiménez shot tamely at the England keeper when set 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, driven on by Dewsbury-Hall and Ndiaye, had a another strike chalked off for an infringement when the Fulham goalkeeper parried a Keane header and James Tarkowski volleyed in the loose ball. The home captain had just strayed beyond the last defender when nodding down Jack Grealish’s delivery in the buildup. But Everton’s third attempt beating the keeper counted. Vitalii Mykolenko floated a perfect ball to the back post when left unmarked on the left by the youngster. The defender met it with a thumping header against the bar and, though Iroegbunam mishit the rebound, his midfield partner the scorer converted from point-blank. The sense of release inside Hill Dickinson Stadium was evident.

Everton had a further effort ruled out early in the second half after the playmaker scored from another inviting delivery from the left. The attacker had cushioned the delivery into Barry, who was in an offside position when competing with the Fulham defender for the ball that reached the home player. The team would have to wait until the 81st minute for the comfort of a second goal. Dewsbury-Hall was the architect with a set-piece that Keane glanced past the goalkeeper. He scored with the upper body, and Fulham’s appeals for handball were rejected by VAR.

Fulham carried more of a threat after the substitutions of Josh King, Rodrigo Muniz and Adama Traoré. Pickford made a fine stop with his legs to deny Muniz scoring with his first touch and stopped the speedster with another important stop late on.