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The Everton manager had stressed before the match against Fulham that the onus for finding the back of the net must not rest only on his side's strikers. “I want more goals from my defenders and midfielders as well,” he declared. The Senegalese midfielder and Michael Keane rose to the occasion, delivering a well-earned victory over the opposition's ineffective side.

The Merseyside club's second victory in nine outings was relatively comfortable as Fulham demonstrated the reason their leading scorer this season is goals gifted by opponents. Apart from a brief flurry in the latter period, the visitors were kept quiet all match by Everton’s superior intensity and technical ability. The Blues had three goals disallowed for infringements, but a poacher’s finish from Gueye in first-half stoppage time and the defender's second-half header made sure there would be no reprieve for the former Everton manager.

No player needed a goal more than the young striker, the Everton forward who had gone 10 Premier League outings without testing the goalkeeper after his £27m summer arrival from the Spanish side and missed a clear opportunity to put his team 2-0 up at Sunderland earlier in the week. The youngster headed the earliest chance of the game wide of Bernd Leno’s goal frame when found by Iliman Ndiaye’s excellent delivery.

The home side dominated the early exchanges and the Fulham goalkeeper pushed over the midfielder's 30-yard free-kick, awarded after Sasa Lukic was yellow-carded for hauling down Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall. Lukic tripped the same player later in the half but the official, the man in charge, correctly waved away Everton appeals for a second yellow. The Fulham boss was not risking anything, though, and withdrew the player at the interval.

The striker thought his fortune had changed at last when sliding in at the far post to convert a low cross by his teammate. But the joy of a maiden strike was wiped out by an linesman's decision. Ndiaye was offside when going for the delivery, and missing, and the video assistant referee backed up the original call. Barry’s misfortune may have continued in the final third, but his all-round performance justified the manager's choice to stick with him. His movement and work-rate occupied the opposition's back line and contributed to Everton the edge throughout.

The Londoners came into the contest slowly with Sander Berge and the former Everton midfielder 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 his teammate and put a set-piece from a promising location straight into the defensive barrier. That summed up their attacking output.

The Blues, driven on by the midfielder and Ndiaye, had a another strike disallowed for offside when the Fulham goalkeeper saved a Keane header and James Tarkowski volleyed in the loose ball. The home captain had moved offside when heading on the winger's delivery in the buildup. But Everton’s third attempt beating the keeper counted. The left-back floated a perfect ball to the back post when left unmarked on the left by Tim Iroegbunam. The defender connected with a powerful nod off the crossbar and, though Iroegbunam fluffed his lines, his teammate the scorer finished from close range. The sense of release inside the ground was palpable.

Everton had a further effort ruled out early in the second half after the playmaker found the bottom corner from a further excellent Mykolenko cross. The attacker had laid off the ball into Barry, who was offside when challenging Joachim Anderson for the ball that reached the Everton midfielder. Everton would have to be patient until the 81st minute for the comfort of a second goal. The provider was the architect with a set-piece that Keane glanced past the goalkeeper. He did so with the upper body, and the visitors' protests for a handball were rejected by VAR.

Silva’s side carried more of a threat following the introductions of the forward, the Brazilian and Adama Traoré. Pickford made a fine stop with his feet to deny the substitute scoring with his first touch and denied the speedster with a crucial save late on.