Idrissa Gueye and Michael Keane find the net as Everton sink Fulham

David Moyes had stressed before Fulham's visit that the responsibility for finding the back of the net must not fall solely on the team's forwards. “I want more goals from my defenders and midfielders as well,” he insisted. The Senegalese midfielder and the English defender duly obliged, delivering a merited victory over the opposition's ineffective side.

The Merseyside club's second victory in nine outings was fairly straightforward as Fulham showed the reason their leading scorer this season is opposition own goals. Aside from a short spell in the second half, the away side were subdued throughout by the home team's greater urgency and technical ability. The Blues had three efforts disallowed for offside, but a poacher’s finish from Gueye in first-half stoppage time and Keane’s second-half header made sure there would be no comeback 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 big-money move from the Spanish side and missed a clear opportunity to put his team two goals ahead at Sunderland on Monday. The 23-year-old directed the first opportunity of the game over the Fulham keeper's crossbar when picked out by his teammate's excellent delivery.

Everton controlled the opening stages and the Fulham goalkeeper pushed over James Garner’s long-range set-piece, given after Sasa Lukic was yellow-carded for hauling down Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall. Lukic tripped the identical opponent later in the half but the referee, the man in charge, rightly ignored home protests for a sending off. Silva was taking no further chances, though, and substituted the midfielder at the break.

Barry believed his fortune had finally turned when sliding in at the back post to convert a low cross by Gueye. But the elation of a first Everton goal was wiped out by an assistant referee’s flag. Ndiaye was offside when attacking the delivery, and failing to connect, and the VAR supported the on-field decision. Barry’s misfortune may have continued in front of goal, but his overall display justified the manager's choice to keep the faith. His runs and effort kept busy the opposition's back line and contributed to Everton the upper hand throughout.

Fulham came into the contest slowly with the Norwegian and the former Everton midfielder Alex Iwobi combining effectively in the engine room, but the early danger from the away team was minimal. The Mexican striker shot tamely at the England keeper when set up inside the area by Iwobi and sent a free-kick from a promising location directly at the Everton wall. And that was it.

Everton, inspired by Dewsbury-Hall and Ndiaye, had a another strike disallowed for an infringement when the Fulham goalkeeper saved a effort from Keane and the captain fired home the loose ball. The skipper had moved offside when nodding down Jack Grealish’s cross in the buildup. But the team's next effort past the keeper counted. The left-back delivered a perfect ball to the back post when found in space on the left by the youngster. The defender connected with a thumping header off the crossbar and, though the midfielder mishit the rebound, his teammate the scorer converted from close range. The sense of release 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 Mykolenko cross. The attacker had cushioned the delivery into the striker, who was offside when challenging the Fulham defender for the touch that fell to the home player. The team would have to be patient until the closing stages for the security of a second goal. The provider was the architect with a set-piece that the defender directed over Leno. He did so with the back of his shoulder, and the visitors' protests for handball were rejected by VAR.

Silva’s side carried more of a threat following the substitutions of the forward, the Brazilian and the winger. Pickford made a fine stop with his feet to deny Muniz scoring with his first touch and stopped the speedster with another important stop in the dying moments.