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David Moyes had stressed before the match against Fulham that the responsibility for scoring goals should not rest only on his side's forwards. “I want more goals from my defenders and midfielders as well,” he insisted. The Senegalese midfielder and Michael Keane responded perfectly, earning a merited victory over Marco Silva’s ineffective team.

Everton’s second victory in nine outings was fairly straightforward as the visitors demonstrated why their leading scorer this season is opposition own goals. Apart from a short spell in the second half, the visitors were contained all match by the home team's greater urgency and quality. Moyes’ team had three efforts ruled out for offside, but a close-range strike from Gueye in first-half stoppage time and Keane’s late conversion ensured there would be no reprieve for the former Everton manager.

No one needed a goal more than the young striker, the Everton forward who had failed to register a shot on target in 10 league games without a shot on target after his £27m summer arrival from the Spanish side and missed a gilt-edged chance to put his team two goals ahead at the Stadium of Light on Monday. The 23-year-old directed the first opportunity of the game over Bernd Leno’s crossbar when picked out by his teammate's excellent delivery.

Everton dominated the early exchanges and the Fulham goalkeeper pushed over the midfielder's 30-yard free-kick, awarded after the Fulham player was booked for hauling down Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall. Lukic brought down the same player again before halftime but the referee, the man in charge, correctly waved away home protests for a second yellow. The Fulham boss was not risking anything, though, and substituted the player at the interval.

The striker thought his luck had changed at last when sliding in at the back post to convert a low cross by his teammate. But the elation of a first Everton goal was wiped out by an linesman's decision. The attacker was in an illegal position when attacking the delivery, and missing, and the VAR backed up the original call. The forward's bad luck may have persisted in the final third, but his all-round performance justified Moyes’ decision to stick with him. His runs and work-rate kept busy Fulham’s central defenders and contributed to Everton the edge throughout.

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 first half threat from the visitors was minimal. Raúl Jiménez shot tamely at the England keeper when set up inside the area by Iwobi and put a free-kick from a dangerous position directly at the defensive barrier. That summed up their attacking output.

Everton, driven on by Dewsbury-Hall and the forward, had a second goal disallowed for offside when Leno saved a Keane header and James Tarkowski fired home the rebound. The home captain had just strayed beyond the last defender when nodding down the winger's cross in the buildup. But Everton’s third attempt past Leno counted. Vitalii Mykolenko delivered a perfect ball to the far post when left unmarked on the left flank by the youngster. Tarkowski connected with a powerful nod off the crossbar and, though the midfielder fluffed his lines, his teammate Gueye converted from point-blank. The relief inside the ground was evident.

Everton had a third goal ruled out early in the second half after Dewsbury-Hall found the bottom corner from a further excellent delivery from the left. Ndiaye had cushioned the ball into Barry, who was in an offside position when challenging Joachim Anderson for the ball that reached the home player. The team would have to wait until the closing stages for the comfort of a two-goal lead. Dewsbury-Hall was the creator with a corner that Keane glanced over Leno. He did so with the back of his shoulder, and the visitors' protests for a handball were dismissed by the video official.

Fulham posed more danger following the substitutions of the forward, the Brazilian and the winger. The Everton keeper saved well with his feet to deny the substitute finding the net with his first touch and denied the speedster with another important stop late on.