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David Moyes had emphasized before Fulham's visit that the onus for scoring goals must not rest only on his side's forwards. “I want more goals from my defenders and midfielders as well,” he stated. Idrissa Gueye and the English defender rose to the occasion, earning a merited victory over Marco Silva’s ineffective team.

The Merseyside club's second victory in nine matches was relatively comfortable as Fulham highlighted the reason their top marksman this season is opposition own goals. Aside from a short spell in the latter period, the away side were kept quiet throughout by Everton’s superior intensity and quality. The Blues had three goals ruled out for offside, but a poacher’s finish from Gueye in added time before the break and Keane’s second-half header made sure there would be no reprieve for the former Everton manager.

No one was more in need of scoring 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 on Monday. The youngster headed the earliest chance of the game wide of the Fulham keeper's crossbar when found by Iliman Ndiaye’s fine cross.

The home side dominated the opening stages and the Fulham goalkeeper pushed over James Garner’s 30-yard free-kick, given after the Fulham player was booked for fouling the Everton midfielder. The Serbian brought down the identical opponent again before halftime but the official, the man in charge, correctly waved away Everton appeals for a sending off. The Fulham boss was taking no further chances, however, and withdrew the player at the interval.

Barry thought his luck had changed at last when sliding in at the far post to turn in a low cross by Gueye. But the elation of a maiden strike was wiped out by an assistant referee’s flag. Ndiaye was offside when attacking the delivery, and missing, and the video assistant referee supported the original call. Barry’s misfortune may have continued in the final third, but his overall display validated the manager's choice to stick with him. His movement and work-rate kept busy the opposition's back line and helped give the hosts the upper hand all game.

The Londoners grew into the game slowly with Sander Berge and the ex-Goodison player the Nigerian working well in midfield, but the first half threat from the visitors was limited. The Mexican striker fired weakly at Jordon Pickford when set up inside the area by Iwobi and sent a set-piece from a dangerous position directly at the defensive barrier. That summed up their attacking output.

The Blues, driven on by the midfielder and the forward, had a second goal disallowed 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 delivery in the buildup. But Everton’s next effort beating Leno did stand. The left-back floated a lovely cross to the back post when left unmarked on the left by Tim Iroegbunam. Tarkowski connected with a powerful nod off the crossbar and, though Iroegbunam fluffed his lines, his midfield partner Gueye finished from close range. The sense of release inside the ground was evident.

The home side had a further effort disallowed early in the second half after Dewsbury-Hall found the bottom corner from a further excellent Mykolenko cross. Ndiaye had cushioned the ball into the striker, who was offside when competing with Joachim Anderson for the ball that reached the home player. Everton would have to wait until the 81st minute for the security of a two-goal lead. The provider was the creator with a set-piece that Keane directed past the goalkeeper. He did so with the back of his shoulder, and Fulham’s appeals for handball were dismissed by VAR.

Silva’s side posed more danger following the introductions of Josh King, Rodrigo Muniz and Adama Traoré. Pickford made a fine stop with his feet to prevent Muniz finding the net with his initial involvement and stopped the speedster with a crucial save late on.