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David Moyes had stressed before the match against Fulham that the responsibility for scoring goals must not rest only on his side's strikers. “I expect more goals from my centre-halves and midfielders as well,” he stated. The Senegalese midfielder and the English defender responded perfectly, earning a merited victory over the opposition's ineffective side.

Everton’s second win in nine matches was largely untroubled as Fulham highlighted the reason their leading scorer this season is opposition own goals. Aside from a brief flurry in the second half, the visitors were contained throughout by the home team's superior intensity and technical ability. Moyes’ team had three efforts disallowed for offside, but a poacher’s finish from Gueye in added time before the break and Keane’s late conversion made sure there would be no comeback for their ex-coach.

No one needed a goal more than the young striker, the Everton forward who had failed to register a shot on target in 10 league games without testing the goalkeeper after his big-money move from the Spanish side and spurned a clear opportunity to put his team 2-0 up at Sunderland on Monday. The youngster directed the earliest chance of the game over Bernd Leno’s goal frame when found by his teammate's excellent delivery.

Everton controlled the early exchanges and the Fulham goalkeeper pushed over James Garner’s long-range set-piece, given after the Fulham player was booked for fouling Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall. The Serbian brought down the same player again before halftime but the official, Andrew Madley, rightly ignored home protests for a sending off. The Fulham boss was taking no further chances, though, and substituted the player at the interval.

The striker thought his luck had changed at last when sliding in at the far post to turn in a low cross by his teammate. But the joy of a maiden strike was erased by an assistant referee’s flag. Ndiaye was offside when going for Gueye’s cross, and missing, and the video assistant referee backed up the on-field decision. Barry’s misfortune may have persisted in front of goal, but his overall display justified Moyes’ decision to stick with him. His runs and effort kept busy Fulham’s central defenders and helped give the hosts the upper hand throughout.

Fulham grew into the game gradually with the Norwegian and the ex-Goodison player Alex Iwobi working well in the engine room, but the first half threat from the away team was minimal. Raúl Jiménez fired weakly at Jordon Pickford when teed up in the box by his teammate and sent a free-kick from a dangerous position directly at the Everton wall. That summed up their attacking output.

The Blues, driven on by the midfielder and the forward, had a second goal chalked off for offside when Leno parried a Keane header and James Tarkowski volleyed in the rebound. The skipper had moved beyond the last defender when nodding down the winger's cross in the buildup. But the team's third attempt past Leno counted. Vitalii Mykolenko floated a perfect ball to the back post when left unmarked on the left by the youngster. The defender met it with a thumping header off the crossbar and, though the midfielder fluffed his lines, his midfield partner the scorer finished from point-blank. The relief inside the ground was evident.

The home side had a third goal disallowed early in the second half after Dewsbury-Hall scored from another inviting delivery from the left. The attacker had laid off the ball into Barry, who was in an offside position when competing with Joachim Anderson for the ball that fell to the Everton midfielder. Everton would have to be patient until the closing stages for the comfort of a second goal. The provider was the architect with a set-piece that the defender glanced over the goalkeeper. He did so with the back of his shoulder, and the visitors' protests for a handball were rejected by VAR.

Fulham carried more of a threat after the substitutions of the forward, Rodrigo Muniz and the winger. Pickford saved well with his feet to deny Muniz finding the net with his initial involvement and denied Traoré with a crucial save in the dying moments.