Gueye along with Keane on target as the Toffees sink Fulham

The Everton manager had stressed before Fulham's visit that the onus for scoring goals should not fall solely on his side's strikers. “I want more goals from my centre-halves and midfielders as well,” he insisted. The Senegalese midfielder and Michael Keane responded perfectly, earning a well-earned victory over Marco Silva’s toothless side.

The Merseyside club's second win in nine outings was fairly straightforward as the visitors showed why their leading scorer this season is opposition own goals. Aside from a short spell in the second half, the visitors were contained throughout by the home team's superior intensity and technical ability. The Blues had three efforts disallowed for offside, but a close-range strike from the midfielder in first-half stoppage time and Keane’s second-half header made sure there would be no comeback for their ex-coach.

No player needed a goal as much as Thierno Barry, the Everton forward who had gone 10 Premier League outings without a shot on target after his £27m summer arrival from Villarreal and spurned a gilt-edged chance to put his team 2-0 up at Sunderland earlier in the week. The 23-year-old headed the earliest chance 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 visiting shot-stopper pushed over the midfielder's long-range set-piece, awarded after the Fulham player was booked for fouling Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall. Lukic tripped the same player again before halftime but the referee, the man in charge, rightly ignored home protests for a second yellow. The Fulham boss was taking no further chances, though, and substituted the player at the interval.

The striker believed his fortune had changed at last when sliding in at the back post to turn in a drilled pass by his teammate. But the joy of a first Everton goal was erased by an linesman's decision. The attacker was in an illegal position when going for the delivery, and missing, and the video assistant referee backed up the on-field decision. Barry’s misfortune may have continued in front of goal, but his all-round performance justified the manager's choice to keep the faith. His movement and work-rate kept busy Fulham’s central defenders and helped give Everton the edge throughout.

Fulham grew into the game gradually with Sander Berge and the ex-Goodison player the Nigerian combining effectively in the engine room, but the first half threat from the visitors was minimal. Raúl Jiménez fired weakly at the England keeper when teed up inside the area by his teammate and put a set-piece from a dangerous position directly at the defensive barrier. And that was it.

The Blues, inspired by the midfielder and the forward, had a another strike chalked off for an infringement when the Fulham goalkeeper parried a effort from Keane and James Tarkowski volleyed in the loose ball. The skipper had just strayed offside when heading on Jack Grealish’s delivery in the buildup. But Everton’s third attempt beating Leno counted. The left-back delivered a perfect ball to the far post when found in space on the left flank by Tim Iroegbunam. The defender connected with a powerful nod against the bar and, though the midfielder mishit the rebound, his midfield partner Gueye finished from point-blank. The relief inside the ground was evident.

The home side had a third goal disallowed after the restart after the playmaker scored from another inviting Mykolenko cross. Ndiaye had cushioned the delivery into the striker, who was in an offside position when competing with Joachim Anderson for the touch that fell to the home player. The team would have to wait until the closing stages for the security of a two-goal lead. The provider was the architect with a corner that the defender glanced past the goalkeeper. He scored with the back of his shoulder, and Fulham’s appeals for a handball were rejected by the video official.

Fulham carried more of a threat after the substitutions of the forward, the Brazilian and the winger. The Everton keeper made a fine stop with his feet to prevent Muniz finding the net with his first touch and stopped the speedster with a crucial save in the dying moments.