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David Moyes had made clear before the match against Fulham that the onus for scoring goals must not fall solely on the team's strikers. “I demand more goals from my defenders and midfielders as well,” he declared. The Senegalese midfielder and Michael Keane responded perfectly, delivering a well-earned victory over Marco Silva’s ineffective side.

Everton’s second victory in nine outings was fairly straightforward as the visitors showed why their leading scorer this season is goals gifted by opponents. Aside from a short spell in the second half, the visitors were contained all match by Everton’s superior intensity and technical ability. The Blues had three goals ruled out for offside, but a close-range strike from Gueye in added time before the break and the defender's late conversion made sure there would be no comeback for the former Everton manager.

No player needed a goal more than the young striker, the Everton attacker who had gone 10 Premier League outings without a shot on target after his £27m summer arrival from Villarreal and missed a gilt-edged chance to put his team two goals ahead at the Stadium of Light earlier in the week. The 23-year-old headed the first opportunity of the game over Bernd Leno’s goal frame when picked out by Iliman Ndiaye’s excellent delivery.

The home side dominated the opening stages and the Fulham goalkeeper pushed over the midfielder's long-range set-piece, given after Sasa Lukic was yellow-carded for fouling Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall. The Serbian tripped the same player later in the half but the official, the man in charge, correctly waved away home protests for a sending off. Silva was not risking anything, however, and withdrew the midfielder at the break.

The striker thought his fortune had changed at last when sliding in 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 assistant referee’s flag. The attacker was offside when going for the delivery, and failing to connect, and the video assistant referee supported the original call. Barry’s misfortune may have continued in front of goal, but his all-round performance validated the manager's choice to stick with him. His movement and work-rate kept busy Fulham’s central defenders and contributed to Everton the edge all game.

Fulham grew into the game gradually with Sander Berge and the former Everton midfielder Alex Iwobi combining effectively in the engine room, but the early danger from the away team was limited. The Mexican striker fired weakly at Jordon Pickford when teed up inside the area by Iwobi and put a set-piece from a promising location straight into the defensive barrier. And that was it.

The Blues, driven on by the midfielder and the forward, had a another strike disallowed for an infringement when Leno parried a effort from Keane and the captain fired home the loose ball. The skipper had just strayed beyond the last defender when nodding down the winger's cross in the build-up. But Everton’s third attempt beating the keeper counted. Vitalii Mykolenko floated a perfect ball to the far post when found in space on the left by the youngster. The defender met it with a powerful nod against the bar and, though the midfielder fluffed his lines, his teammate Gueye finished from close range. The sense of release inside the ground was palpable.

Everton had a further effort ruled out after the restart after Dewsbury-Hall scored from another inviting Mykolenko cross. The attacker had laid off the delivery into Barry, who was in an offside position when competing with the Fulham defender for the ball 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 architect with a set-piece that Keane glanced past the goalkeeper. He did so with the back of his shoulder, and the visitors' protests for handball were rejected by the video official.

Silva’s side carried more of a threat following the introductions of the forward, the Brazilian and the winger. The Everton keeper saved well with his feet to prevent the substitute scoring with his initial involvement and denied the speedster with a crucial save in the dying moments.