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David Moyes had stressed before Fulham's visit that the responsibility for scoring goals must not rest only on the team's forwards. “I expect more goals from my defenders and midfielders as well,” he insisted. Idrissa Gueye and Michael Keane responded perfectly, securing a merited victory over Marco Silva’s toothless side.

The Merseyside club's second win in nine matches was fairly straightforward as Fulham demonstrated why their top marksman this season is opposition own goals. Aside from a short spell in the latter period, the visitors were contained throughout by the home team's superior intensity and technical ability. The Blues had three efforts disallowed for infringements, 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 reprieve for the former Everton manager.

No player needed a goal as much as the young striker, the Goodison Park attacker who had gone 10 Premier League outings without testing the goalkeeper after his £27m summer arrival from Villarreal and missed a clear opportunity to put his team two goals ahead at the Stadium of Light on Monday. The 23-year-old directed the earliest chance of the game wide of Bernd Leno’s goal frame when picked out by his teammate's excellent delivery.

Everton controlled the opening stages and the visiting shot-stopper tipped over the midfielder's 30-yard free-kick, given after Sasa Lukic was booked for fouling the Everton midfielder. Lukic brought down the identical opponent again before halftime but the official, the man in charge, correctly waved away Everton appeals for a second yellow. Silva was not risking anything, though, and withdrew the midfielder at the break.

The striker believed his fortune had finally turned when arriving at the far post to turn in a low cross by his teammate. But the elation of a maiden strike was wiped out by an linesman's decision. Ndiaye was in an illegal position when attacking Gueye’s cross, and failing to connect, and the video assistant referee backed up the original call. Barry’s misfortune may have persisted in the final third, but his all-round performance justified the manager's choice to keep the faith. His movement and effort kept busy Fulham’s central defenders and helped give Everton the edge all game.

The Londoners grew into the game gradually with Sander Berge and the former Everton midfielder the Nigerian working well in midfield, but the early danger from the visitors was limited. Raúl Jiménez fired weakly at Jordon Pickford when set up inside the area by his teammate and sent a free-kick from a promising location directly at the defensive barrier. That summed up their attacking output.

Everton, inspired by the midfielder and the forward, had a second goal chalked off for an infringement when Leno parried a Keane header and the captain fired home the rebound. The skipper had just strayed beyond the last defender when nodding down Jack Grealish’s delivery in the buildup. But Everton’s next effort past the keeper counted. Vitalii Mykolenko floated a lovely cross to the far post when found in space on the left flank by Tim Iroegbunam. The defender connected with a thumping header off the crossbar and, though the midfielder fluffed his lines, his teammate Gueye converted from close range. The relief inside the ground was evident.

The home side had a further effort disallowed after the restart after the playmaker found the bottom corner from another inviting delivery from the left. Ndiaye had cushioned the ball into the striker, who was offside when competing with Joachim Anderson for the ball that fell to the Everton midfielder. The team would have to be patient until the 81st minute for the security of a second goal. The provider was the architect with a corner that the defender glanced past the goalkeeper. He scored with the upper body, and Fulham’s appeals for a handball were dismissed by VAR.

Silva’s side carried more of a threat after the introductions of the forward, the Brazilian and Adama Traoré. Pickford made a fine stop with his feet to prevent the substitute scoring with his initial involvement and stopped the speedster with another important stop late on.