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The Everton manager had emphasized 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 expect more goals from my defenders and midfielders as well,” he insisted. The Senegalese midfielder and the English defender responded perfectly, securing a fully deserved victory over Marco Silva’s ineffective side.

The Merseyside club's second victory in nine outings was relatively comfortable as the visitors showed the reason their leading scorer this season is goals gifted by opponents. Apart from a short spell in the second half, the visitors were contained all match by Everton’s greater urgency and quality. The Blues had three goals ruled out for infringements, but a close-range strike from the midfielder in first-half stoppage time and the defender's late conversion made sure there would be no comeback for the former Everton manager.

No one needed a goal more than the young striker, the Everton attacker who had gone 10 Premier League outings without a shot on target after his £27m summer arrival from the Spanish side and spurned a clear opportunity to put his team 2-0 up at Sunderland on Monday. The youngster directed the earliest chance of the game wide of the Fulham keeper's goal frame when picked out by his teammate's fine cross.

Everton dominated the opening stages and the Fulham goalkeeper tipped over the midfielder's long-range set-piece, awarded after the Fulham player was yellow-carded for fouling Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall. The Serbian tripped the identical opponent again before halftime but the official, the man in charge, rightly ignored home protests for a sending off. The Fulham boss was taking no further chances, though, and withdrew the midfielder at the break.

The striker believed his luck had changed at last when arriving at the back post to turn in a low cross by his teammate. But the elation of a first Everton goal was wiped out by an assistant referee’s flag. The attacker was offside when going for Gueye’s cross, and missing, and the VAR backed up the original call. The forward's bad luck may have persisted in the final third, but his all-round performance justified the manager's choice to keep the faith. His movement and effort kept busy the opposition's back line and helped give the hosts the edge throughout.

The Londoners came into the contest gradually with the Norwegian and the ex-Goodison player the Nigerian working well in the engine room, but the first half threat from the away team was limited. The Mexican striker shot tamely at Jordon Pickford when teed up inside the area by Iwobi and put a free-kick from a dangerous position straight into the defensive barrier. And that was it.

Everton, inspired by Dewsbury-Hall and the forward, had a another strike chalked off for an infringement when Leno parried a effort from Keane and James Tarkowski volleyed in the rebound. The home captain had just strayed beyond the last defender when heading on the winger's cross in the build-up. But the team's next effort past Leno counted. Vitalii Mykolenko delivered a lovely cross to the far post when found in space on the left by the youngster. The defender met it with a powerful nod against the bar and, though the midfielder 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 disallowed early in the second half after Dewsbury-Hall found the bottom corner from another inviting Mykolenko cross. Ndiaye had laid off the delivery into the striker, who was in an offside position when competing with the Fulham defender for the ball that fell to the Everton midfielder. Everton would have to wait until the closing stages for the security of a second goal. Dewsbury-Hall was the creator with a corner that the defender directed over the goalkeeper. He scored with the upper body, and the visitors' protests for handball were rejected by VAR.

Fulham carried more of a threat after the substitutions of Josh King, the Brazilian and Adama Traoré. The Everton keeper made a fine stop with his legs to prevent the substitute scoring with his first touch and denied the speedster with another important stop late on.