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David Moyes had stressed before the match against Fulham that the onus for scoring goals must not fall solely on his side's strikers. “I want more goals from my centre-halves and central players as well,” he stated. Idrissa Gueye and the English defender responded perfectly, securing a well-earned 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 brief flurry in the second half, the away side were subdued all match by the home team's greater urgency and quality. Moyes’ team had three efforts disallowed for infringements, but a poacher’s finish from Gueye in added time before the break and Keane’s late conversion made sure there would be no reprieve for the former Everton manager.

No one needed a goal more than Thierno Barry, the Goodison Park 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 missed a clear opportunity to put his team two goals ahead at Sunderland earlier in the week. The 23-year-old headed the first opportunity of the game over the Fulham keeper's crossbar when picked out by Iliman Ndiaye’s fine cross.

Everton controlled the early exchanges and the Fulham goalkeeper pushed over James Garner’s 30-yard free-kick, given after the Fulham player was yellow-carded for fouling Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall. Lukic brought down the same player later in the half but the referee, the man in charge, correctly waved away Everton appeals for a sending off. The Fulham boss was not risking anything, though, and substituted the player at the break.

The striker believed his fortune had changed at last when arriving at the back post to turn in a low cross by Gueye. But the elation of a maiden strike was erased by an linesman's decision. The attacker was offside when attacking Gueye’s cross, and failing to connect, and the VAR supported the original call. The forward's bad luck may have persisted in front of goal, but his all-round performance justified the manager's choice to stick with him. His movement and work-rate occupied Fulham’s central defenders and contributed to the hosts the upper hand throughout.

The Londoners grew into the game slowly with the Norwegian and the former Everton midfielder Alex Iwobi combining effectively in the engine room, but the first half threat from the visitors was minimal. Raúl Jiménez shot tamely at Jordon Pickford when set up inside the area by Iwobi and sent a free-kick from a dangerous position directly at the defensive barrier. That summed up their attacking output.

Everton, inspired by Dewsbury-Hall and the forward, had a second goal disallowed for an infringement when the Fulham goalkeeper saved a Keane header and the captain volleyed in the loose ball. The home captain had just strayed beyond the last defender when heading on Jack Grealish’s cross in the build-up. But Everton’s third attempt beating the keeper did stand. The left-back delivered a lovely cross to the back post when found in space on the left flank by Tim Iroegbunam. The defender connected with a powerful nod off the crossbar and, though Iroegbunam fluffed his lines, his midfield partner the scorer converted from close range. The sense of release inside the ground was evident.

The home side had a third goal ruled out after the restart after the playmaker scored from a further excellent Mykolenko cross. The attacker had laid off the delivery into the striker, who was in an offside position when challenging the Fulham defender for the ball that reached the home player. Everton would have to be patient until the closing stages for the comfort of a two-goal lead. Dewsbury-Hall was the architect with a corner that the defender glanced over Leno. He did so with the upper body, and Fulham’s appeals for a handball were dismissed by VAR.

Fulham carried more of a threat following the introductions of Josh King, the Brazilian and Adama Traoré. Pickford made a fine stop with his feet to deny Muniz scoring with his initial involvement and stopped the speedster with a crucial save late on.