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David Moyes had made clear 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 demand more goals from my defenders and central players as well,” he declared. Idrissa Gueye and the English defender responded perfectly, securing a merited victory over Marco Silva’s toothless team.

The Merseyside club's second win in nine matches was relatively comfortable as the visitors showed the reason their top marksman this season is opposition own goals. Apart from a short spell in the second half, the away side were subdued all match by the home team's greater urgency and quality. The Blues had three goals ruled out for offside, but a close-range strike from the midfielder in first-half stoppage time and the defender's second-half header ensured there would be no comeback for their ex-coach.

No player was more in need of scoring as much as the young striker, the Everton 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 spurned a gilt-edged chance to put his team 2-0 up at the Stadium of Light earlier in the week. The youngster headed the earliest chance of the game wide of Bernd Leno’s crossbar when found by Iliman Ndiaye’s excellent delivery.

Everton dominated the early exchanges and the Fulham goalkeeper pushed over James Garner’s long-range set-piece, awarded after Sasa Lukic was booked for hauling down the Everton midfielder. Lukic tripped the identical opponent again before halftime but the referee, Andrew Madley, correctly waved away home protests for a sending off. Silva was taking no further chances, however, and withdrew the midfielder at the interval.

The striker thought his fortune had finally turned when arriving at the back post to convert a drilled pass by his teammate. But the elation of a maiden strike was erased by an assistant referee’s flag. Ndiaye was in an illegal position when attacking the delivery, 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 validated the manager's choice to keep the faith. His runs and effort occupied Fulham’s central defenders and contributed to the hosts the upper hand throughout.

The Londoners came into the contest slowly with Sander Berge and the ex-Goodison player Alex Iwobi working well 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 his teammate and put a set-piece from a dangerous position directly at the Everton wall. And that was it.

The Blues, inspired by Dewsbury-Hall and Ndiaye, had a second goal chalked off for offside when Leno parried a Keane header and James Tarkowski volleyed in the loose ball. The home captain had just strayed offside when nodding down the winger's cross in the buildup. But the team's third attempt beating Leno did stand. The left-back floated a perfect ball to the far post when found in space on the left flank by the youngster. Tarkowski met it with a thumping header against the bar and, though the midfielder mishit the rebound, his midfield partner the scorer finished from point-blank. The sense of release inside the ground was palpable.

Everton had a third goal ruled out early in the second half after Dewsbury-Hall scored from a further excellent Mykolenko cross. Ndiaye had cushioned the ball into Barry, who was offside when challenging Joachim Anderson for the touch that reached the home player. Everton would have to be patient until the 81st minute for the security of a two-goal lead. The provider was the architect with a set-piece that the defender glanced over the goalkeeper. He scored with the back of his shoulder, and the visitors' protests for handball were dismissed by VAR.

Silva’s side carried more of a threat after the substitutions of the forward, the Brazilian and the winger. The Everton keeper saved well with his legs to prevent the substitute finding the net with his first touch and stopped the speedster with another important stop in the dying moments.