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David Moyes had stressed before Fulham's visit that the onus for scoring goals must not rest only on his side's strikers. “I want more goals from my centre-halves and midfielders as well,” he declared. The Senegalese midfielder and the English defender responded perfectly, delivering a merited victory over the opposition's toothless team.

Everton’s second win in nine outings was largely untroubled as Fulham demonstrated why their leading scorer this season is goals gifted by opponents. Aside from a brief flurry in the latter period, the visitors were contained throughout by the home team's greater urgency and technical ability. Moyes’ team had three goals ruled out for offside, but a close-range strike from Gueye in added time before the break and Keane’s late conversion ensured there would be no comeback for their ex-coach.

No player needed a goal as much as Thierno Barry, the Everton attacker who had gone 10 Premier League outings without a shot on target after his £27m summer arrival from the Spanish side and missed a gilt-edged chance to put his team 2-0 up at Sunderland earlier in the week. The youngster directed the earliest chance of the game wide of the Fulham keeper's goal frame when picked out by his teammate's excellent delivery.

Everton dominated the early exchanges and the visiting shot-stopper tipped over the midfielder's long-range set-piece, given after Sasa Lukic was booked for hauling down Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall. Lukic brought down the identical opponent again before halftime but the official, Andrew Madley, correctly waved away Everton appeals for a sending off. The Fulham boss was not risking anything, however, and substituted the player at the break.

Barry thought his luck had changed at last when arriving at the far post to convert a low cross by his teammate. But the joy of a maiden strike was erased by an assistant referee’s flag. The attacker was in an illegal position when going for Gueye’s cross, 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 stick with him. His runs and effort occupied the opposition's back line and contributed to the hosts the upper hand all game.

Fulham came into the contest gradually with Sander Berge and the ex-Goodison player the Nigerian working well in the engine room, but the early danger from the visitors was limited. The Mexican striker fired weakly 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, driven on by Dewsbury-Hall and the forward, had a second goal chalked off for offside when Leno saved a Keane header and the captain fired home the loose ball. The home captain had moved beyond the last defender when nodding down the winger's cross in the build-up. But the team's third attempt past Leno counted. Vitalii Mykolenko floated a lovely cross to the far post when left unmarked on the left by Tim Iroegbunam. Tarkowski met it with a thumping header off the crossbar and, though Iroegbunam mishit the rebound, his teammate the scorer finished from close range. The relief inside the ground was palpable.

Everton had a third goal ruled out after the restart after the playmaker found the bottom corner from another inviting delivery from the left. The attacker had cushioned the delivery into Barry, who was in an offside position when competing with the Fulham defender for the ball that fell to the Everton midfielder. The team would have to wait until the closing stages for the comfort of a second goal. The provider was the architect with a corner that the defender directed over the goalkeeper. He scored with the back of his shoulder, and the visitors' protests for a handball were dismissed by the video official.

Fulham carried more of a threat after the substitutions of the forward, Rodrigo Muniz and the winger. The Everton keeper made a fine stop with his legs to deny the substitute finding the net with his first touch and stopped the speedster with a crucial save late on.