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David Moyes had stressed before the match against Fulham that the onus for finding the back of the net must not fall solely on his side's forwards. “I want more goals from my defenders and midfielders as well,” he declared. The Senegalese midfielder and Michael Keane duly obliged, earning a fully deserved victory over the opposition's toothless team.

Everton’s second victory in nine matches was largely untroubled as Fulham demonstrated the reason their leading scorer this season is goals gifted by opponents. Aside from a brief flurry in the latter period, the visitors were subdued throughout by the home team's greater urgency and quality. Moyes’ team had three efforts ruled out for infringements, but a poacher’s finish from Gueye in first-half stoppage time and Keane’s second-half header ensured there would be no reprieve for the former Everton manager.

No player was more in need of scoring as much as the young striker, the Everton attacker 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 two goals ahead at the Stadium of Light on Monday. The 23-year-old headed the earliest chance of the game over Bernd Leno’s crossbar when found by Iliman Ndiaye’s excellent delivery.

Everton dominated the opening stages and the Fulham goalkeeper tipped over the midfielder's 30-yard free-kick, given after Sasa Lukic was yellow-carded for hauling down the Everton midfielder. The Serbian brought down the identical opponent later in the half but the referee, the man in charge, rightly ignored home protests for a sending off. The Fulham boss was taking no further chances, however, and withdrew the player at the interval.

The striker thought his fortune had finally turned when sliding in at the far post to convert a drilled pass by Gueye. But the joy of a maiden strike was erased by an assistant referee’s flag. The attacker was offside when going for the delivery, and missing, and the video assistant referee backed up the original call. The forward's bad luck may have persisted in front of goal, but his all-round performance justified Moyes’ decision to keep the faith. His movement and work-rate kept busy Fulham’s central defenders and contributed to Everton the edge throughout.

Fulham grew into the game slowly with the Norwegian and the former Everton midfielder the Nigerian working well in the engine room, but the early danger from the away team was minimal. The Mexican striker fired weakly at Jordon Pickford when set up inside the area by his teammate and sent a set-piece from a promising location straight into the defensive barrier. And that was it.

The Blues, inspired by the midfielder and the forward, had a another strike disallowed for an infringement when the Fulham goalkeeper parried a effort from Keane and the captain fired home the rebound. The skipper had just strayed offside when nodding down the winger's cross in the build-up. But Everton’s third attempt past Leno counted. Vitalii Mykolenko floated a perfect ball to the far post when left unmarked on the left flank by the youngster. The defender connected with a thumping header off the crossbar and, though Iroegbunam mishit the rebound, his midfield partner the scorer finished from point-blank. The relief inside Hill Dickinson Stadium was palpable.

The home side had a third goal disallowed early in the second half after the playmaker scored from a further excellent delivery from the left. The attacker had cushioned the ball into Barry, who was offside when challenging the Fulham defender for the ball that fell to the Everton midfielder. The team would have to wait until the closing stages for the comfort of a second goal. The provider was the architect with a corner that the defender directed past the goalkeeper. He scored with the upper body, and the visitors' protests for a handball were dismissed by the video official.

Fulham carried more of a threat after the introductions of the forward, Rodrigo Muniz and the winger. The Everton keeper saved well with his feet to prevent Muniz finding the net with his initial involvement and denied the speedster with another important stop late on.