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David Moyes had made clear before Fulham's visit that the responsibility for finding the back of the net must not fall solely on his side's forwards. “I expect more goals from my defenders and central players as well,” he declared. The Senegalese midfielder and Michael Keane duly obliged, securing a fully deserved victory over the opposition's toothless side.

The Merseyside club's second victory in nine matches was fairly straightforward as Fulham highlighted the reason their leading scorer this season is opposition own goals. Apart from a short spell in the second half, the visitors were kept quiet throughout by the home team's superior intensity and quality. Moyes’ team had three efforts ruled out for offside, but a poacher’s finish from Gueye in first-half stoppage time and the defender's second-half header made sure there would be no reprieve for the former Everton manager.

No player needed a goal more than the young striker, the Goodison Park 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 Villarreal and missed a gilt-edged chance to put his team 2-0 up at the Stadium of Light on Monday. The youngster headed the first opportunity of the game wide of Bernd Leno’s goal frame when found by his teammate's fine cross.

The home side controlled the early exchanges and the Fulham goalkeeper pushed over James Garner’s 30-yard free-kick, awarded after Sasa Lukic was booked for fouling Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall. The Serbian tripped the same player later in the half but the referee, the man in charge, correctly waved away home protests for a sending off. Silva was taking no further chances, though, and withdrew the midfielder at the interval.

The striker believed his luck had changed at last when arriving at the back post to turn in a drilled pass by Gueye. But the elation of a maiden strike was erased by an assistant referee’s flag. Ndiaye was offside when going for Gueye’s cross, and failing to connect, and the VAR backed up the on-field decision. Barry’s misfortune may have continued in the final third, but his overall display validated the manager's choice to stick with him. His runs and effort occupied the opposition's back line and contributed to the hosts the upper hand all game.

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 early danger from the visitors was limited. The Mexican striker shot tamely at Jordon Pickford when set up inside the area by his teammate and sent a set-piece from a dangerous position directly at the Everton wall. That summed up their attacking output.

The Blues, inspired by the midfielder and the forward, had a another strike disallowed for an infringement when the Fulham goalkeeper parried a Keane header and the captain fired home the rebound. The home captain had moved offside when nodding down Jack Grealish’s delivery in the build-up. But Everton’s third attempt past the keeper counted. The left-back delivered a lovely cross to the back post when found in space on the left by Tim Iroegbunam. Tarkowski connected with a thumping header off the crossbar and, though Iroegbunam mishit the rebound, his midfield partner the scorer finished from close range. The relief inside Hill Dickinson Stadium was evident.

Everton had a further effort ruled out after the restart after Dewsbury-Hall scored from a further excellent Mykolenko cross. Ndiaye had cushioned the delivery into the striker, who was offside when competing with Joachim Anderson for the touch that fell to the Everton midfielder. Everton would have to wait until the closing stages for the security of a second goal. Dewsbury-Hall was the creator with a corner that the defender glanced past Leno. He did so with the back of his shoulder, and Fulham’s appeals for handball were rejected by VAR.

Fulham carried more of a threat following the substitutions of the forward, the Brazilian and Adama Traoré. The Everton keeper made a fine stop with his feet to deny the substitute finding the net with his initial involvement and denied Traoré with another important stop late on.