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David Moyes had emphasized before the match against Fulham that the onus for finding the back of the net should not rest only on his side's strikers. “I expect more goals from my defenders and central players as well,” he stated. The Senegalese midfielder and Michael Keane rose to the occasion, earning a merited victory over Marco Silva’s ineffective side.

The Merseyside club's second victory in nine matches was largely untroubled as the visitors showed why their leading scorer this season is opposition own goals. Apart from a short spell in the second half, the visitors were subdued all match by Everton’s greater urgency and quality. The Blues had three goals ruled out for offside, but a poacher’s finish from the midfielder in added time before the break and Keane’s second-half header made sure there would be no reprieve for the former Everton manager.

No player was more in need of scoring as much as the young striker, the Goodison Park attacker who had failed to register a shot on target in 10 league games without testing the goalkeeper after his big-money move from Villarreal and spurned a clear opportunity 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 fine cross.

The home side controlled the early exchanges and the Fulham goalkeeper pushed over the midfielder's long-range set-piece, awarded after Sasa Lukic was booked for fouling the Everton midfielder. The Serbian brought down the identical opponent later in the half but the referee, the man in charge, correctly waved away home protests for a second yellow. Silva was taking no further chances, however, and withdrew the player at the interval.

Barry thought his luck had finally turned when sliding in at the back post to convert a drilled pass by Gueye. But the elation of a maiden strike was wiped out by an assistant referee’s flag. Ndiaye was offside when attacking 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 all-round performance validated the manager's choice to keep the faith. His runs and effort kept busy Fulham’s central defenders and contributed to the hosts the edge throughout.

Fulham came into the contest gradually with Sander Berge and the former Everton midfielder Alex Iwobi working well in midfield, but the early danger from the away team was minimal. The Mexican striker fired weakly at the England keeper when set up inside the area by his teammate and sent a set-piece from a promising location directly at the Everton wall. That summed up their attacking output.

The Blues, driven on by Dewsbury-Hall and the forward, had a second goal disallowed for offside when the Fulham goalkeeper parried a Keane header and James Tarkowski volleyed in the rebound. The skipper had just strayed offside when heading on the winger's cross in the build-up. But the team's next effort past the keeper counted. Vitalii Mykolenko delivered a lovely cross to the back post when left unmarked on the left by Tim Iroegbunam. Tarkowski connected with a powerful nod off the crossbar and, though the midfielder fluffed his lines, his teammate the scorer finished from close range. The sense of release inside Hill Dickinson Stadium was evident.

Everton had a third goal ruled out early in the second half after the playmaker scored from another inviting delivery from the left. The attacker had cushioned the delivery into the striker, who was offside when challenging the Fulham defender for the ball that fell to the home player. Everton would have to wait until the closing stages for the security of a second goal. Dewsbury-Hall was the architect with a corner that Keane glanced over Leno. He did so with the upper body, and the visitors' protests for handball were rejected by VAR.

Fulham posed more danger after the substitutions of Josh King, the Brazilian and the winger. Pickford made a fine stop with his feet to deny the substitute finding the net with his initial involvement and denied the speedster with another important stop in the dying moments.