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David Moyes had stressed before Fulham's visit that the onus for finding the back of the net must not rest only on his side's forwards. “I expect more goals from my defenders and midfielders as well,” he declared. The Senegalese midfielder and the English defender duly obliged, delivering a well-earned victory over Marco Silva’s ineffective team.

The Merseyside club's second win in nine matches was fairly straightforward as Fulham showed why their leading scorer this season is goals gifted by opponents. Aside from a brief flurry in the second half, the away side were subdued throughout by Everton’s greater urgency and technical ability. The Blues had three efforts disallowed for infringements, but a close-range strike from the midfielder in first-half stoppage time and the defender's second-half header ensured there would be no reprieve for their ex-coach.

No one needed a goal as much as Thierno Barry, the Everton attacker who had failed to register a shot on target in 10 league games 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 Sunderland earlier in the week. The youngster headed 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 James Garner’s long-range set-piece, awarded after Sasa Lukic was booked for hauling down Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall. Lukic tripped the same player again before halftime but the referee, Andrew Madley, rightly ignored home protests for a sending off. Silva was not risking anything, though, and substituted the midfielder at the break.

Barry thought his luck had changed at last when arriving at the back post to convert a drilled pass by his teammate. But the joy of a first Everton goal was erased by an linesman's decision. Ndiaye was offside when attacking the delivery, and missing, and the VAR backed up the original call. Barry’s misfortune may have persisted in the final third, but his overall display justified Moyes’ decision to keep the faith. His runs and work-rate occupied the opposition's back line and contributed to Everton the edge throughout.

Fulham grew into the game gradually with the Norwegian and the former Everton midfielder the Nigerian working well in midfield, but the first half threat from the visitors was limited. Raúl Jiménez fired weakly at the England keeper when set up in the box by his teammate and put a set-piece from a promising location straight into the defensive barrier. And that was it.

The Blues, inspired by the midfielder and Ndiaye, had a second goal disallowed for an infringement when Leno parried a Keane header and James Tarkowski fired home the loose ball. The skipper had just strayed offside when heading on the winger's delivery in the build-up. But the team's next effort past Leno did stand. Vitalii Mykolenko floated a perfect ball to the far post when found in space on the left flank by the youngster. Tarkowski met it with a powerful nod against the bar and, though the midfielder mishit the rebound, his midfield partner Gueye finished from point-blank. The relief inside the ground was palpable.

Everton had a third goal ruled out after the restart after the playmaker scored from another inviting Mykolenko cross. Ndiaye had cushioned the ball into Barry, who was offside when competing with the Fulham defender for the ball that reached the Everton midfielder. Everton would have to wait until the 81st minute for the security of a second goal. The provider was the architect with a corner that the defender directed over the goalkeeper. He did so with the back of his shoulder, and the visitors' protests for a handball were rejected by the video official.

Silva’s side carried more of a threat following the substitutions of Josh King, the Brazilian and the winger. Pickford saved well with his feet to deny the substitute finding the net with his initial involvement and denied the speedster with another important stop late on.