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The Everton manager had stressed before the match against Fulham that the onus for finding the back of the net must not fall solely on the team's forwards. “I expect more goals from my centre-halves and midfielders as well,” he stated. The Senegalese midfielder and Michael Keane rose to the occasion, delivering a well-earned victory over the opposition's ineffective side.

Everton’s second win in nine matches was fairly straightforward as the visitors showed the reason their leading scorer this season is opposition own goals. Aside from a brief flurry in the latter period, the away side were contained throughout by the home team's greater urgency and technical ability. The Blues had three goals ruled out for infringements, but a close-range strike from the midfielder in first-half stoppage time and Keane’s late conversion made sure there would be no comeback for their ex-coach.

No one was more in need of scoring more than the young striker, the Everton attacker who had gone 10 Premier League outings without testing the goalkeeper 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 earlier in the week. The 23-year-old directed the first opportunity of the game wide of the Fulham keeper's crossbar when found by Iliman Ndiaye’s excellent delivery.

Everton controlled the early exchanges and the visiting shot-stopper tipped over the midfielder's long-range set-piece, awarded after Sasa Lukic was booked for fouling Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall. The Serbian brought down the identical opponent later in the half but the official, the man in charge, rightly ignored home protests for a second yellow. Silva was not risking anything, however, and substituted the midfielder at the break.

The striker believed his fortune had changed at last when arriving at the far post to turn in a drilled pass by Gueye. But the elation of a maiden strike was wiped out by an linesman's decision. Ndiaye was offside when attacking Gueye’s cross, and failing to connect, and the VAR backed up the on-field decision. The forward's bad luck may have persisted in front of goal, but his all-round performance justified Moyes’ decision to stick with him. His movement and work-rate occupied the opposition's back line and contributed to the hosts the edge all game.

The Londoners grew into the game gradually with Sander Berge and the former Everton midfielder Alex Iwobi working well in the engine room, but the first half threat from the visitors was limited. The Mexican striker shot tamely at the England keeper when set up inside the area by his teammate and put a free-kick from a promising location directly at the defensive barrier. That summed up their attacking output.

The Blues, driven on by Dewsbury-Hall and Ndiaye, had a second goal chalked off for offside when the Fulham goalkeeper parried a Keane header and the captain volleyed in the loose ball. The skipper had just strayed offside when nodding down the winger's delivery in the build-up. But the team's third attempt past the keeper counted. Vitalii Mykolenko delivered a perfect ball to the back post when found in space on the left flank by Tim Iroegbunam. The defender connected with a thumping header against the bar and, though the midfielder fluffed his lines, his teammate the scorer finished from point-blank. The relief inside Hill Dickinson Stadium was palpable.

Everton had a further effort ruled out early in the second half after the playmaker found the bottom corner from another inviting Mykolenko cross. The attacker had cushioned the delivery into Barry, who was in an offside position when challenging the Fulham defender for the touch that reached the Everton midfielder. The team would have to wait until the closing stages for the security of a two-goal lead. The provider was the creator with a set-piece that the defender directed past Leno. He did so with the back of his shoulder, and Fulham’s appeals for a handball were rejected by VAR.

Silva’s side posed more danger following the substitutions of Josh King, Rodrigo Muniz and Adama Traoré. Pickford made a fine stop with his feet to prevent the substitute scoring with his initial involvement and stopped Traoré with another important stop in the dying moments.