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David Moyes had emphasized before Fulham's visit that the responsibility for finding the back of the net should not fall solely on the team's forwards. “I want more goals from my defenders and central players as well,” he stated. The Senegalese midfielder and the English defender responded perfectly, delivering a well-earned victory over Marco Silva’s ineffective team.

The Merseyside club's second win 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 second half, the away side were contained all match by Everton’s greater urgency and quality. Moyes’ team had three goals disallowed for offside, but a poacher’s finish from the midfielder in added time before the break and Keane’s late conversion ensured there would be no reprieve for the former Everton manager.

No player was more in need of scoring more than Thierno Barry, the Everton forward who had failed to register a shot on target in 10 league games without a shot on target after his big-money move from the Spanish side and missed a gilt-edged chance to put his team two goals ahead at the Stadium of Light on Monday. The youngster headed the earliest chance of the game over the Fulham keeper's goal frame when picked out by his teammate's excellent delivery.

Everton controlled the early exchanges and the Fulham goalkeeper pushed over the midfielder's 30-yard free-kick, given after Sasa Lukic was booked for fouling the Everton midfielder. The Serbian brought down the same player later in the half but the official, the man in charge, rightly ignored home protests for a sending off. The Fulham boss was taking no further chances, though, and withdrew the midfielder at the break.

The striker thought his fortune had changed at last when sliding in at the far post to convert a drilled pass by Gueye. But the elation of a first Everton goal was wiped out by an linesman's decision. Ndiaye was in an illegal position when going for Gueye’s cross, and missing, and the video assistant referee backed up the original call. The forward's bad luck may have persisted in front of goal, but his all-round performance justified the manager's choice to keep the faith. His movement and work-rate kept busy Fulham’s central defenders and contributed to Everton the edge throughout.

Fulham came into the contest gradually with Sander Berge and the former Everton midfielder Alex Iwobi working well in midfield, but the early danger from the visitors was limited. The Mexican striker fired weakly at Jordon Pickford when set up inside the area by his teammate and sent a free-kick from a dangerous position directly at the Everton wall. That summed up their attacking output.

Everton, driven on by the midfielder and the forward, had a second goal chalked off for an infringement when Leno parried a effort from Keane and James Tarkowski volleyed in the loose ball. The skipper had moved beyond the last defender when heading on Jack Grealish’s delivery in the build-up. But Everton’s third attempt beating Leno counted. Vitalii Mykolenko floated a lovely cross to the back post when left unmarked on the left by the youngster. The defender met it with a thumping header against the bar and, though the midfielder mishit the rebound, his teammate Gueye finished from close range. The sense of release inside the ground was palpable.

Everton had a third goal ruled out after the restart after Dewsbury-Hall scored from a further excellent delivery from the left. The attacker had cushioned the delivery into Barry, who was in an offside position when challenging the Fulham defender for the ball that reached the home player. The team would have to wait until the closing stages for the comfort of a two-goal lead. Dewsbury-Hall was the architect with a corner that the defender directed past Leno. He scored with the upper body, and the visitors' protests for a handball were rejected by VAR.

Fulham posed more danger after the substitutions of Josh King, Rodrigo Muniz and the winger. The Everton keeper made a fine stop with his feet to prevent the substitute finding the net with his initial involvement and stopped the speedster with another important stop in the dying moments.