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David Moyes had made clear before the match against Fulham that the responsibility for scoring goals must not rest only on his side's forwards. “I expect more goals from my centre-halves and central players as well,” he stated. The Senegalese midfielder and the English defender responded perfectly, securing a well-earned victory over the opposition's toothless team.

Everton’s second victory in nine matches was fairly straightforward as Fulham highlighted the reason their leading scorer this season is goals gifted by opponents. Aside from a brief flurry in the latter period, the visitors were kept quiet all match by Everton’s greater urgency and technical ability. Moyes’ team had three efforts disallowed for infringements, but a poacher’s finish from Gueye in added time before the break 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 failed to register a shot on target in 10 league games without a shot on target after his big-money move from the Spanish side and spurned a clear opportunity to put his team two goals ahead at the Stadium of Light on Monday. The youngster headed the earliest chance of the game wide of Bernd Leno’s goal frame when picked out by his teammate's fine cross.

The home side dominated the early exchanges and the Fulham goalkeeper pushed over the midfielder's long-range set-piece, given after Sasa Lukic was booked for hauling down the Everton midfielder. The Serbian brought down the same player again before halftime but the referee, the man in charge, rightly ignored Everton appeals for a second yellow. Silva was taking no further chances, however, and substituted the midfielder at the interval.

Barry thought his fortune had changed at last when sliding in 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 validated Moyes’ decision to stick with him. His runs and effort kept busy the opposition's back line and contributed to Everton the edge throughout.

Fulham grew into the game gradually with Sander Berge and the ex-Goodison player the Nigerian working well in the engine room, but the early danger from the visitors was minimal. Raúl Jiménez shot tamely at the England keeper when teed up inside the area by Iwobi and sent a free-kick from a promising location directly at the defensive barrier. And that was it.

Everton, driven on by Dewsbury-Hall and Ndiaye, had a second goal disallowed for offside when the Fulham goalkeeper parried a Keane header and the captain volleyed in the rebound. The skipper had just strayed beyond the last defender when heading on Jack Grealish’s cross in the build-up. But the team's third attempt past the keeper did stand. The left-back floated a lovely cross to the far post when found in space on the left by Tim Iroegbunam. Tarkowski connected 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 Hill Dickinson Stadium was palpable.

The home side had a further effort disallowed early in the second half after Dewsbury-Hall scored from another inviting Mykolenko cross. The attacker had laid off the delivery into Barry, who was offside when competing with Joachim Anderson for the touch that reached the home player. The team would have to wait until the closing stages for the comfort of a second goal. Dewsbury-Hall was the creator with a set-piece that the defender glanced past the goalkeeper. He scored with the back of his shoulder, and the visitors' protests for a handball were rejected by VAR.

Silva’s side carried more of a threat following the substitutions of the forward, Rodrigo Muniz and the winger. The Everton keeper saved well with his legs to deny the substitute scoring with his initial involvement and denied the speedster with a crucial save late on.