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The Everton manager had made clear before the match against Fulham that the onus for finding the back of the net must not fall solely on the team's forwards. “I want more goals from my centre-halves and midfielders as well,” he declared. Idrissa Gueye and Michael Keane rose to the occasion, delivering a fully deserved victory over the opposition's ineffective team.

The Merseyside club's second victory in nine matches was relatively comfortable as the visitors highlighted why their top marksman this season is opposition own goals. Aside from a short spell in the latter period, the away side were contained all match by Everton’s greater urgency and technical ability. The Blues had three goals disallowed for offside, but a close-range strike from Gueye in added time before the break and Keane’s second-half header made sure there would be no reprieve for their ex-coach.

No one was more in need of scoring as much as the young striker, the Everton forward 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 first opportunity of the game wide of Bernd Leno’s goal frame when found by Iliman Ndiaye’s fine cross.

Everton controlled the opening stages and the Fulham goalkeeper pushed over the midfielder's long-range set-piece, awarded after the Fulham player was yellow-carded for hauling down the Everton midfielder. The Serbian tripped the same player again before halftime but the official, the man in charge, correctly waved away home protests for a second yellow. Silva was not risking anything, though, and substituted the player at the break.

The striker believed his luck had changed at last when arriving at the far post to convert a low cross by his teammate. But the elation of a maiden strike was wiped out by an assistant referee’s flag. The attacker was offside when attacking the delivery, and missing, and the VAR supported the original call. Barry’s misfortune may have continued in the final third, but his all-round performance justified the manager's choice to stick with him. His movement and effort occupied the opposition's back line and helped give the hosts the upper hand throughout.

Fulham came into the contest slowly with the Norwegian and the former Everton midfielder Alex Iwobi working well in midfield, but the first half threat from the visitors was minimal. The Mexican striker fired weakly at Jordon Pickford when teed up inside the area by his teammate and sent a set-piece from a dangerous position directly at the Everton wall. That summed up their attacking output.

The Blues, driven on by Dewsbury-Hall and Ndiaye, had a another strike disallowed for offside when Leno saved a Keane header and James Tarkowski fired home the rebound. The skipper had just strayed beyond the last defender when heading on Jack Grealish’s delivery in the build-up. But Everton’s next effort beating Leno did stand. Vitalii Mykolenko floated a lovely cross 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 fluffed his lines, his midfield partner Gueye finished from close range. The sense of release inside Hill Dickinson Stadium was palpable.

Everton had a third goal disallowed after the restart after Dewsbury-Hall scored from a further excellent Mykolenko cross. Ndiaye had laid off the delivery into Barry, who was offside when challenging the Fulham defender for the ball that fell to the home player. Everton would have to be patient until the closing stages for the security of a second goal. The provider was the architect with a corner that the defender directed past Leno. He did so with the upper body, and the visitors' protests for handball were dismissed by VAR.

Fulham carried more of a threat after the substitutions of Josh King, Rodrigo Muniz and Adama Traoré. The Everton keeper saved well with his feet to deny Muniz scoring with his first touch and stopped Traoré with a crucial save late on.