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David Moyes had stressed before Fulham's visit that the responsibility for scoring goals should not fall solely on his side's strikers. “I expect more goals from my defenders and central players as well,” he insisted. Idrissa Gueye and Michael Keane rose to the occasion, delivering a merited victory over the opposition's toothless side.

Everton’s second win in nine matches was relatively comfortable as the visitors showed the reason their leading scorer this season is goals gifted by opponents. Apart from a brief flurry in the second half, the visitors were contained throughout by the home team's greater urgency and quality. The Blues had three goals disallowed for infringements, but a poacher’s finish from the midfielder in first-half stoppage time and the defender's late conversion made sure there would be no comeback for their ex-coach.

No player needed a goal as much as Thierno Barry, the Goodison Park attacker who had gone 10 Premier League outings without testing the goalkeeper after his big-money move from the Spanish side and missed a gilt-edged chance to put his team two goals ahead at Sunderland on Monday. The youngster headed the earliest chance of the game wide of Bernd Leno’s goal frame when picked out by Iliman Ndiaye’s excellent delivery.

The home side dominated the early exchanges and the visiting shot-stopper pushed over James Garner’s long-range set-piece, awarded after Sasa Lukic was yellow-carded for hauling down Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall. Lukic brought down the identical opponent later in the half but the official, the man in charge, rightly ignored Everton appeals for a sending off. Silva was not risking anything, though, and substituted the midfielder at the break.

Barry thought his luck had finally turned when arriving at the back post to convert a drilled pass by his teammate. But the elation of a first Everton goal was wiped out by an linesman's decision. The attacker was offside when going for the delivery, and missing, and the video assistant referee backed up the on-field decision. The forward's bad luck may have persisted in front of goal, but his overall display validated Moyes’ decision to keep the faith. His movement and work-rate kept busy the opposition's back line and contributed to the hosts the edge throughout.

The Londoners came into the contest slowly with Sander Berge and the ex-Goodison player the Nigerian working well in midfield, but the first half threat from the visitors was minimal. Raúl Jiménez fired weakly at Jordon Pickford when set up in the box by his teammate and sent a free-kick from a promising location directly at the Everton wall. That summed up their attacking output.

Everton, inspired by the midfielder and the forward, had a another strike chalked off for an infringement when the Fulham goalkeeper saved a effort from Keane and the captain fired home the rebound. The home captain had moved offside when nodding down Jack Grealish’s delivery in the buildup. But Everton’s third attempt past Leno counted. Vitalii Mykolenko floated a lovely cross to the back post when found in space on the left by Tim Iroegbunam. Tarkowski met it with a powerful nod off the crossbar and, though the midfielder fluffed his lines, his midfield partner Gueye converted from point-blank. The sense of release inside the ground was palpable.

The home side had a third goal disallowed early in the second half after Dewsbury-Hall found the bottom corner from another inviting delivery from the left. Ndiaye had cushioned the delivery into the striker, who was in an offside position when challenging 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 directed past the goalkeeper. He did so with the back of his shoulder, and the visitors' protests for handball were rejected by VAR.

Silva’s side carried more of a threat following the introductions of Josh King, Rodrigo Muniz and Adama Traoré. Pickford made a fine stop with his legs to deny the substitute scoring with his initial involvement and denied the speedster with a crucial save in the dying moments.