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The Everton manager had emphasized before Fulham's visit that the responsibility for finding the back of the net must not fall solely on the team's forwards. “I demand more goals from my centre-halves and midfielders as well,” he insisted. Idrissa Gueye and Michael Keane responded perfectly, securing a fully deserved victory over the opposition's toothless team.

The Merseyside club's second win in nine outings was fairly straightforward as the visitors showed the reason their leading scorer this season is opposition own goals. Apart from a brief flurry in the second half, the away side were contained throughout by the home team's greater urgency and quality. The Blues had three goals ruled out for infringements, but a close-range strike from Gueye in first-half stoppage time and Keane’s second-half header ensured there would be no comeback for their ex-coach.

No one needed a goal as much as the young striker, 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 spurned a gilt-edged chance to put his team two goals ahead at Sunderland on Monday. The youngster directed the earliest chance of the game over the Fulham keeper's crossbar when picked out by Iliman Ndiaye’s excellent delivery.

Everton dominated the early exchanges and the Fulham goalkeeper tipped over James Garner’s 30-yard free-kick, awarded after the Fulham player was yellow-carded for fouling the Everton midfielder. Lukic tripped the same player later in the half but the official, the man in charge, rightly ignored Everton appeals for a sending off. Silva was not risking anything, though, and withdrew the player at the interval.

Barry thought his fortune had finally turned when sliding in at the back post to convert a low cross by Gueye. But the elation of a first Everton goal was wiped out by an linesman's decision. The attacker was offside when attacking Gueye’s cross, and missing, and the video assistant referee backed up the original call. The forward's bad luck may have continued in front of goal, but his all-round performance validated the manager's choice to keep the faith. His movement and work-rate kept busy Fulham’s central defenders and contributed to the hosts the edge all game.

Fulham came into the contest slowly with Sander Berge and the ex-Goodison player the Nigerian combining effectively in the engine room, but the early danger from the visitors was minimal. Raúl Jiménez fired weakly at the England keeper when set up in the box by his teammate and put a set-piece from a promising location directly at the Everton wall. And that was it.

Everton, driven on by the midfielder and Ndiaye, had a another strike chalked off for offside when the Fulham goalkeeper saved a effort from Keane and the captain fired home the rebound. The skipper had moved offside when heading on the winger's cross in the build-up. But the team's next effort beating the keeper counted. Vitalii Mykolenko floated a perfect ball to the far post when left unmarked on the left by the youngster. Tarkowski connected with a powerful nod off the crossbar and, though the midfielder mishit the rebound, his teammate the scorer converted from point-blank. The relief inside Hill Dickinson Stadium was palpable.

The home side had a further effort ruled out after the restart after the playmaker found the bottom corner from a further excellent Mykolenko cross. Ndiaye had laid off the ball into Barry, who was in an offside position when challenging Joachim Anderson for the touch that reached the Everton midfielder. The team would have to wait until the closing stages for the security of a second goal. Dewsbury-Hall was the creator with a corner that Keane directed past Leno. He did so with the upper body, and Fulham’s appeals for a handball were rejected by the video official.

Silva’s side posed more danger after the substitutions of the forward, the Brazilian and the winger. Pickford made a fine stop with his legs to deny Muniz scoring with his first touch and denied the speedster with a crucial save late on.