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David Moyes had stressed before the match against Fulham that the onus for finding the back of the net must not fall solely on his side's strikers. “I expect more goals from my centre-halves and midfielders as well,” he stated. Idrissa Gueye and Michael Keane responded perfectly, delivering a fully deserved victory over Marco Silva’s toothless side.

The Merseyside club's second victory in nine outings was fairly straightforward as Fulham demonstrated the reason their leading scorer this season is goals gifted by opponents. Aside from a short spell in the latter period, the visitors were subdued throughout by Everton’s superior intensity and quality. The Blues had three efforts ruled out for infringements, but a poacher’s finish from Gueye in first-half stoppage time and the defender's second-half header ensured there would be no reprieve for their ex-coach.

No player needed a goal more than Thierno Barry, the Everton forward who had gone 10 Premier League outings without a shot on target after his £27m summer arrival from the Spanish side and spurned a gilt-edged chance to put his team 2-0 up at Sunderland on Monday. The 23-year-old headed the earliest chance of the game wide of Bernd Leno’s goal frame when picked out by Iliman Ndiaye’s fine cross.

The home side controlled the early exchanges and the Fulham goalkeeper pushed over the midfielder's 30-yard free-kick, given after the Fulham player 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. Silva was not risking anything, however, and withdrew the midfielder at the break.

Barry thought his fortune had finally turned when arriving at the far post to turn in a low cross by his teammate. But the elation of a first Everton goal was wiped out by an linesman's decision. Ndiaye was in an illegal position when attacking Gueye’s cross, and missing, and the VAR backed up the on-field decision. Barry’s misfortune may have persisted in the final third, but his all-round performance justified Moyes’ decision to stick with him. His runs and effort occupied the opposition's back line and helped give the hosts the upper hand all game.

Fulham grew into the game slowly with Sander Berge and the ex-Goodison player Alex Iwobi working well in midfield, but the first half threat from the away team was minimal. Raúl Jiménez shot tamely at Jordon Pickford when teed up in the box by Iwobi and put a free-kick from a promising location straight into the defensive barrier. And that was it.

Everton, inspired by Dewsbury-Hall and the forward, had a second goal chalked off for offside when the Fulham goalkeeper parried a effort from Keane and James Tarkowski fired home the rebound. The home captain had moved beyond the last defender when nodding down the winger's cross in the buildup. But Everton’s next effort beating Leno did stand. Vitalii Mykolenko floated a lovely cross to the far post when found in space on the left by the youngster. Tarkowski connected with a thumping header off the crossbar and, though Iroegbunam fluffed his lines, his teammate Gueye converted from close range. The sense of release inside the ground was evident.

The home side had a third goal disallowed after the restart after Dewsbury-Hall found the bottom corner from another inviting Mykolenko cross. The attacker had laid off the ball into Barry, who was offside when challenging the Fulham defender for the ball that reached 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 corner that the defender glanced past the goalkeeper. He scored with the upper body, and the visitors' protests for handball were rejected by the video official.

Fulham carried more of a threat following the introductions of the forward, the Brazilian and Adama Traoré. The Everton keeper made a fine stop with his feet to deny the substitute finding the net with his first touch and stopped the speedster with a crucial save late on.