Idrissa Gueye along with Michael Keane find the net as the Toffees overcome Fulham

The Everton manager 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 strikers. “I want more goals from my centre-halves and midfielders as well,” he stated. The Senegalese midfielder and the English defender rose to the occasion, securing a merited victory over Marco Silva’s toothless team.

Everton’s second victory in nine outings was largely untroubled as the visitors highlighted why their top marksman this season is opposition own goals. Aside from a brief flurry in the latter period, the away side were contained throughout by the home team's superior intensity and quality. Moyes’ team had three efforts disallowed for offside, but a poacher’s finish from Gueye in first-half stoppage time and the defender's late conversion made sure there would be no reprieve for their ex-coach.

No player needed a goal more than Thierno Barry, the Goodison Park 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 two goals ahead at Sunderland earlier in the week. The youngster directed the first opportunity of the game over Bernd Leno’s goal frame when picked out by Iliman Ndiaye’s excellent delivery.

Everton controlled the early exchanges and the Fulham goalkeeper tipped over the midfielder's long-range set-piece, given after Sasa Lukic was yellow-carded for fouling the Everton midfielder. Lukic tripped the identical opponent again before halftime but the official, Andrew Madley, correctly waved away home protests for a second yellow. The Fulham boss was not risking anything, however, and substituted the midfielder at the break.

Barry thought his fortune had finally turned when arriving at the back post to convert a drilled pass by Gueye. But the joy of a first Everton goal was wiped out by an assistant referee’s flag. Ndiaye was offside when attacking Gueye’s cross, and missing, and the video assistant referee backed up the original call. The forward's bad luck may have continued in front of goal, but his all-round performance validated the manager's choice to stick with him. His runs and effort kept busy Fulham’s central defenders and helped give the hosts the upper hand throughout.

The Londoners grew into the game gradually with Sander Berge and the former Everton midfielder Alex Iwobi combining effectively in the engine room, but the early danger from the away team was minimal. The Mexican striker fired weakly at the England keeper when set up in the box by Iwobi and sent a free-kick from a dangerous position directly at the defensive barrier. That summed up their attacking output.

Everton, inspired by Dewsbury-Hall and Ndiaye, had a another strike disallowed for offside when the Fulham goalkeeper saved a Keane header and James Tarkowski volleyed in the rebound. The home captain had moved offside when heading on the winger's delivery in the buildup. But Everton’s next effort beating the keeper counted. Vitalii Mykolenko delivered a perfect ball to the back post when left unmarked on the left by the youngster. Tarkowski connected with a powerful nod against the bar and, though Iroegbunam mishit the rebound, his midfield partner Gueye converted from point-blank. The relief inside the ground was evident.

The home side had a third goal ruled out early in the second half after Dewsbury-Hall scored from a further excellent delivery from the left. The attacker had laid off the ball into Barry, who was offside when competing with Joachim Anderson for the ball that reached the home player. The team would have to wait until the 81st minute for the comfort of a two-goal lead. Dewsbury-Hall was the architect with a corner that the defender directed over the goalkeeper. He scored with the upper body, and Fulham’s appeals for handball were rejected by the video official.

Silva’s side carried more of a threat following the substitutions of the forward, the Brazilian and Adama Traoré. The Everton keeper made a fine stop with his feet to prevent Muniz finding the net with his first touch and stopped Traoré with a crucial save in the dying moments.