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David Moyes had stressed before the match against Fulham that the onus for scoring goals must not rest only on the team's forwards. “I want more goals from my defenders and midfielders as well,” he stated. Idrissa Gueye and the English defender duly obliged, securing a merited victory over the opposition's ineffective side.

Everton’s second win in nine matches was fairly straightforward as Fulham showed 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 throughout by the home team's superior intensity and quality. Moyes’ team had three goals disallowed for offside, but a poacher’s finish from the midfielder in added time before the break and Keane’s late conversion made sure there would be no comeback for their ex-coach.

No player needed a goal as much as the young striker, the Goodison Park forward who had gone 10 Premier League outings without testing the goalkeeper after his £27m summer arrival from the Spanish side and spurned a clear opportunity 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 his teammate's fine cross.

The home side controlled the opening stages and the Fulham goalkeeper pushed over the midfielder's 30-yard free-kick, given after Sasa Lukic was booked for hauling down Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall. The Serbian brought down the same player again before halftime but the referee, Andrew Madley, rightly ignored home protests for a sending off. The Fulham boss was taking no further chances, though, and withdrew the player at the interval.

The striker thought his luck had changed at last when sliding in at the back post to turn in 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 video assistant referee backed up the on-field decision. Barry’s misfortune may have persisted in front of goal, but his overall display justified Moyes’ decision to stick with him. His movement and effort kept busy the opposition's back line and contributed to the hosts the edge throughout.

The Londoners grew into the game slowly with the Norwegian and the former Everton midfielder Alex Iwobi combining effectively in midfield, but the early danger from the away team was limited. Raúl Jiménez shot tamely at Jordon Pickford when teed up inside the area by Iwobi and put a free-kick from a promising location directly at the defensive barrier. That summed up their attacking output.

Everton, inspired by Dewsbury-Hall and Ndiaye, had a another strike chalked off for offside when Leno parried a effort from Keane and James Tarkowski fired home the rebound. The home captain had moved offside when heading on the winger's delivery in the buildup. But Everton’s next effort past Leno did stand. The left-back delivered a perfect ball to the far post when found in space on the left flank by Tim Iroegbunam. The defender met it with a powerful nod off the crossbar and, though the midfielder fluffed his lines, his teammate Gueye finished from point-blank. The sense of release inside the ground was evident.

Everton had a further effort disallowed after the restart after Dewsbury-Hall found the bottom corner from a further excellent Mykolenko cross. Ndiaye had laid off the ball into the striker, who was offside when competing with the Fulham defender for the touch that fell to the home player. Everton would have to wait until the closing stages for the comfort of a two-goal lead. The provider was the architect with a set-piece that the defender glanced over Leno. He did so with the back of his shoulder, and Fulham’s appeals for a handball were rejected by the video official.

Fulham posed more danger following the introductions of Josh King, the Brazilian and Adama Traoré. Pickford made a fine stop with his feet to prevent the substitute finding the net with his first touch and stopped the speedster with a crucial save in the dying moments.