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The Everton manager had emphasized before the match against Fulham that the responsibility for scoring goals must not rest only on his side's forwards. “I expect more goals from my defenders and central players as well,” he declared. Idrissa Gueye and the English defender duly obliged, delivering a fully deserved victory over the opposition's toothless team.

Everton’s second win in nine matches was relatively comfortable as Fulham demonstrated the reason their leading scorer this season is goals gifted by opponents. Aside from a short spell in the second half, the away side were kept quiet throughout by Everton’s greater urgency and quality. Moyes’ team had three goals disallowed for offside, but a close-range strike from Gueye in first-half stoppage time and the defender's second-half header made sure there would be no comeback for the former Everton manager.

No player was more in need of scoring more than Thierno Barry, the Everton attacker 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 2-0 up at the Stadium of Light earlier in the week. The youngster headed the earliest chance of the game over Bernd Leno’s goal frame when picked out by Iliman Ndiaye’s fine cross.

Everton dominated the early exchanges and the Fulham goalkeeper pushed over James Garner’s long-range set-piece, awarded after Sasa Lukic was booked for fouling Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall. Lukic brought down the same player later in the half but the referee, the man in charge, rightly ignored home protests for a sending off. The Fulham boss was not risking anything, however, and withdrew the player at the interval.

The striker thought his luck had finally turned when sliding in at the far post to turn in a low cross by his teammate. But the joy of a maiden strike was wiped out by an linesman's decision. Ndiaye was offside when going for Gueye’s cross, and missing, and the VAR supported the on-field decision. Barry’s misfortune may have continued in front of goal, but his overall display justified Moyes’ decision to stick with him. His movement and effort occupied Fulham’s central defenders and helped give Everton the edge throughout.

The Londoners grew into the game slowly with the Norwegian and the former Everton midfielder Alex Iwobi working well in midfield, but the first half threat from the visitors was limited. Raúl Jiménez fired weakly at Jordon Pickford when set up inside the area by Iwobi and put a free-kick from a dangerous position directly at the Everton wall. That summed up their attacking output.

Everton, inspired by Dewsbury-Hall and the forward, had a another strike chalked off for offside when Leno parried a Keane header and the captain fired home the loose ball. The skipper had moved offside when nodding down the winger's delivery in the build-up. But the team's next effort beating Leno did stand. The left-back delivered a perfect ball to the far post when left unmarked on the left by Tim Iroegbunam. Tarkowski connected with a powerful nod against the bar and, though Iroegbunam fluffed his lines, his teammate Gueye converted from close range. The sense of release inside the ground was evident.

The home side had a third goal ruled out early in the second half after the playmaker found the bottom corner from a further excellent delivery from the left. The attacker had laid off the delivery into the striker, who was in an offside position when competing with Joachim Anderson for the ball that fell to the home player. The team would have to be patient until the 81st minute for the comfort of a second goal. The provider was the architect with a corner that the defender glanced over Leno. He scored with the back of his shoulder, and Fulham’s appeals for handball were rejected by VAR.

Fulham carried more of a threat following the substitutions of the forward, Rodrigo Muniz and Adama Traoré. Pickford saved well with his legs to deny Muniz scoring with his first touch and stopped the speedster with another important stop in the dying moments.