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David Moyes had made clear before Fulham's visit that the responsibility for finding the back of the net must not rest only on his side's forwards. “I demand more goals from my defenders and midfielders as well,” he declared. Idrissa Gueye and the English defender duly obliged, delivering a fully deserved victory over the opposition's toothless team.

The Merseyside club's second win in nine matches was fairly straightforward as Fulham demonstrated why their leading scorer this season is opposition own goals. Aside from a short spell in the latter period, the away side were kept quiet all match by the home team's greater urgency and quality. Moyes’ team had three goals disallowed for infringements, but a poacher’s finish from Gueye in first-half stoppage time and Keane’s late conversion made sure there would be no reprieve for their ex-coach.

No one was more in need of scoring more than Thierno Barry, the Goodison Park forward who had gone 10 Premier League outings without a shot on target after his big-money move from Villarreal and missed a gilt-edged chance to put his team two goals ahead at the Stadium of Light earlier in the week. The 23-year-old directed the earliest chance of the game over Bernd Leno’s crossbar when picked out by his teammate's excellent delivery.

Everton controlled the early exchanges and the visiting shot-stopper pushed over the midfielder's 30-yard free-kick, given after the Fulham player was booked for fouling Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall. The Serbian tripped the identical opponent later in the half but the official, the man in charge, rightly ignored home protests for a sending off. Silva was not risking anything, however, and substituted the player at the interval.

Barry believed his fortune had finally turned when sliding in at the back post to turn in a drilled pass by his teammate. But the joy of a first Everton goal was wiped out by an linesman's decision. Ndiaye was in an illegal position when going for the delivery, and missing, and the VAR backed up the on-field decision. Barry’s misfortune may have continued in front of goal, but his all-round performance validated the manager's choice to keep the faith. His runs and effort kept busy the opposition's back line and contributed to Everton the upper hand all game.

The Londoners grew into the game slowly with the Norwegian and the former Everton midfielder the Nigerian working well in midfield, but the first half threat from the visitors was minimal. Raúl Jiménez shot tamely at the England keeper when set up in the box by his teammate and sent a free-kick from a promising location straight into the Everton wall. That summed up their attacking output.

Everton, inspired by Dewsbury-Hall and Ndiaye, had a second goal chalked off for an infringement when the Fulham goalkeeper parried a effort from Keane and James Tarkowski fired home the rebound. The home captain had moved beyond the last defender when heading on the winger's cross in the buildup. But Everton’s third attempt beating Leno did stand. The left-back floated a perfect ball to the back post when found in space on the left by the youngster. Tarkowski connected with a thumping header against the bar and, though Iroegbunam mishit the rebound, his midfield partner Gueye converted from close range. The relief inside the ground was evident.

Everton had a further effort disallowed early in the second half after the playmaker found the bottom corner from another inviting Mykolenko cross. Ndiaye had cushioned the ball into the striker, who was in an offside position when challenging Joachim Anderson for the ball that reached the home player. The team would have to wait until the closing stages for the security of a second goal. The provider was the architect with a corner that the defender directed over the goalkeeper. He did so with the back of his shoulder, and Fulham’s appeals for handball were dismissed by the video official.

Fulham carried more of a threat after the introductions of the forward, Rodrigo Muniz and Adama Traoré. The Everton keeper made a fine stop with his legs to prevent Muniz scoring with his initial involvement and denied the speedster with another important stop late on.