Idrissa Gueye and Keane find the net as Everton overcome Fulham

David Moyes had stressed before Fulham's visit that the onus for finding the back of the net should not fall solely on his side's forwards. “I want more goals from my centre-halves and midfielders as well,” he declared. The Senegalese midfielder and the English defender duly obliged, delivering a fully deserved victory over the opposition's toothless side.

The Merseyside club's second win in nine outings was relatively comfortable as Fulham demonstrated the reason their top marksman this season is opposition own goals. Aside from a short spell in the latter period, the visitors were contained all match by the home team's superior intensity and quality. Moyes’ team had three efforts ruled out for infringements, but a poacher’s finish from the midfielder in first-half stoppage time and Keane’s late conversion ensured there would be no comeback for the former Everton manager.

No player needed a goal as much as Thierno Barry, the Everton attacker who had gone 10 Premier League outings without a shot on target after his big-money move from the Spanish side and missed a gilt-edged chance to put his team two goals ahead at Sunderland on Monday. The 23-year-old headed the earliest chance of the game wide of Bernd Leno’s crossbar when picked out by Iliman Ndiaye’s excellent delivery.

Everton dominated the early exchanges and the Fulham goalkeeper tipped over the midfielder's 30-yard free-kick, given after Sasa Lukic was yellow-carded for hauling down the Everton midfielder. Lukic brought down the identical opponent later in the half but the referee, Andrew Madley, rightly ignored Everton appeals for a second yellow. The Fulham boss was not risking anything, though, and substituted the midfielder at the interval.

The striker believed his luck had finally turned when sliding in at the far post to convert a low cross by Gueye. But the elation of a maiden strike was wiped out by an linesman's decision. The attacker was in an illegal position when going for the delivery, and missing, and the VAR backed up the original call. Barry’s misfortune may have persisted in the final third, but his all-round performance justified Moyes’ decision to stick with him. His movement and work-rate kept busy the opposition's back line and helped give Everton the upper hand throughout.

Fulham grew into the game gradually with Sander Berge and the ex-Goodison player the Nigerian combining effectively in midfield, but the first half threat from the visitors was limited. Raúl Jiménez fired weakly at the England keeper when set up inside the area by Iwobi and sent a set-piece from a dangerous position directly at the Everton wall. That summed up their attacking output.

The Blues, driven on by the midfielder and Ndiaye, had a another strike disallowed for offside when Leno parried a Keane header and the captain volleyed in the rebound. The skipper had moved beyond the last defender when nodding down Jack Grealish’s delivery in the buildup. But the team's next effort beating the keeper did stand. Vitalii Mykolenko delivered a perfect ball to the back post when left unmarked on the left flank by Tim Iroegbunam. The defender connected with a powerful nod off the crossbar and, though Iroegbunam fluffed his lines, his teammate the scorer converted from point-blank. The relief inside Hill Dickinson Stadium was palpable.

The home side had a further effort ruled out after the restart after the playmaker scored from another inviting delivery from the left. The attacker had laid off the ball into the striker, who was in an offside position when competing with Joachim Anderson for the touch that fell to the Everton midfielder. Everton would have to be patient until the closing stages for the security of a two-goal lead. Dewsbury-Hall was the creator with a corner that the defender glanced past Leno. He did so 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 substitutions of Josh King, the Brazilian and the winger. Pickford saved well with his legs to prevent the substitute scoring with his initial involvement and stopped Traoré with a crucial save late on.