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The Everton manager had stressed before the match against Fulham that the responsibility for finding the back of the net should not rest only on his side's forwards. “I want more goals from my centre-halves and midfielders as well,” he stated. The Senegalese midfielder and the English defender rose to the occasion, securing a fully deserved victory over the opposition's ineffective side.

The Merseyside club's second victory in nine outings was relatively comfortable as the visitors highlighted the reason their top marksman this season is goals gifted by opponents. Aside from a brief flurry in the latter period, the visitors were kept quiet throughout by Everton’s greater urgency and quality. Moyes’ team had three goals disallowed for infringements, but a close-range strike from the midfielder in first-half stoppage time and Keane’s late conversion ensured there would be no comeback for their ex-coach.

No player was more in need of scoring more than the young striker, the Everton forward who had gone 10 Premier League outings without a shot on target after his £27m summer arrival from Villarreal and missed a clear opportunity to put his team two goals ahead at Sunderland earlier in the week. The 23-year-old headed the earliest chance of the game over the Fulham keeper's crossbar when found by Iliman Ndiaye’s fine cross.

Everton dominated the early exchanges and the Fulham goalkeeper pushed over the midfielder's 30-yard free-kick, awarded after Sasa Lukic was booked for fouling the Everton midfielder. Lukic tripped the identical opponent later in the half but the referee, Andrew Madley, correctly waved away home protests for a sending off. The Fulham boss was taking no further chances, however, and withdrew the midfielder at the interval.

The striker thought his fortune had changed at last when arriving at the back post to turn in a low cross by Gueye. But the joy of a maiden strike was erased by an assistant referee’s flag. Ndiaye was in an illegal position when going for the delivery, 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 overall display validated the manager's choice to keep the faith. His runs and effort occupied the opposition's back line and contributed to Everton the upper hand throughout.

The Londoners grew into the game gradually with Sander Berge and the former Everton midfielder the Nigerian combining effectively in the engine room, but the early danger 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 Everton wall. And that was it.

The Blues, driven on by the midfielder and the forward, had a second goal disallowed for offside when Leno saved a effort from Keane and the captain fired home the rebound. The skipper had moved beyond the last defender when nodding down Jack Grealish’s cross in the buildup. But Everton’s third attempt beating the keeper did stand. Vitalii Mykolenko floated a lovely cross to the back post when left unmarked on the left by Tim Iroegbunam. The defender met it with a thumping header against the bar and, though Iroegbunam fluffed his lines, his teammate Gueye converted from close range. The relief inside Hill Dickinson Stadium was palpable.

The home side had a further effort disallowed early in the second half after Dewsbury-Hall scored from another inviting delivery from the left. The attacker had laid off the ball into Barry, who was in an offside position when challenging the Fulham defender for the touch that fell to the Everton midfielder. The team would have to wait until the 81st minute for the security of a two-goal lead. Dewsbury-Hall was the creator with a set-piece that the defender directed past Leno. He scored with the back of his shoulder, and the visitors' protests for handball were dismissed by the video official.

Fulham posed more danger following the substitutions of Josh King, the Brazilian and Adama Traoré. The Everton keeper saved well with his legs to prevent the substitute finding the net with his first touch and stopped Traoré with another important stop in the dying moments.