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David Moyes had made clear before Fulham's visit that the onus for finding the back of the net should not fall solely on his side's forwards. “I demand more goals from my centre-halves and midfielders as well,” he insisted. The Senegalese midfielder and Michael Keane duly obliged, securing a fully deserved victory over the opposition's ineffective team.

Everton’s second victory in nine matches was relatively comfortable as Fulham showed the reason their leading scorer this season is goals gifted by opponents. Aside from a short spell in the second half, the visitors were subdued throughout by the home team's superior intensity and technical ability. The Blues had three efforts ruled out for infringements, but a close-range strike from the midfielder in added time before the break and the defender's second-half header made sure there would be no comeback for their ex-coach.

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 Villarreal and missed a clear opportunity to put his team two goals ahead at Sunderland on Monday. The youngster directed the first opportunity of the game wide of the Fulham keeper's goal frame when found by his teammate's fine cross.

Everton dominated the opening stages and the visiting shot-stopper pushed over James Garner’s 30-yard free-kick, awarded after Sasa Lukic was booked for hauling down the Everton midfielder. Lukic tripped the identical opponent again before halftime but the official, Andrew Madley, rightly ignored home protests for a second yellow. The Fulham boss was not risking anything, though, and withdrew the player at the interval.

Barry believed his luck had finally turned when sliding in at the back post to convert a drilled pass by his teammate. But the elation of a maiden strike was wiped out by an linesman's decision. The attacker was offside when attacking the delivery, and failing to connect, and the video assistant referee supported the original call. Barry’s misfortune may have continued in front of goal, but his all-round performance justified Moyes’ decision to stick with him. His runs and effort kept busy the opposition's back line and helped give the hosts the upper hand all game.

Fulham grew into the game slowly with the Norwegian and the former Everton midfielder Alex Iwobi combining effectively in the engine room, but the first half threat from the visitors was minimal. Raúl Jiménez shot tamely at the England keeper when set up inside the area by his teammate and sent a set-piece from a promising location directly at the defensive barrier. That summed up their attacking output.

The Blues, driven on by the midfielder and Ndiaye, had a another strike disallowed for an infringement when Leno parried a Keane header and James Tarkowski volleyed in the loose ball. The skipper had moved offside when nodding down Jack Grealish’s cross in the build-up. But Everton’s next effort past Leno counted. Vitalii Mykolenko floated a lovely cross to the back post when found in space on the left by Tim Iroegbunam. The defender connected with a powerful nod off the crossbar and, though the midfielder fluffed his lines, his teammate the scorer finished from close range. The relief inside the ground was evident.

The home side had a third goal disallowed early in the second half after Dewsbury-Hall scored from a further excellent Mykolenko cross. The attacker had cushioned the delivery into the striker, who was in an offside position when challenging the Fulham defender for the touch that fell to the home player. Everton would have to wait until the 81st minute for the comfort of a second goal. Dewsbury-Hall was the architect with a set-piece that Keane directed past Leno. He did so with the upper body, and Fulham’s appeals for handball were rejected by VAR.

Fulham carried more of a threat following the introductions of Josh King, Rodrigo Muniz and the winger. The Everton keeper made a fine stop with his feet to prevent the substitute scoring with his first touch and stopped the speedster with a crucial save late on.