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The Everton manager had emphasized before the match against Fulham that the onus for finding the back of the net should not fall solely on the team's strikers. “I demand more goals from my centre-halves and central players as well,” he stated. The Senegalese midfielder and Michael Keane duly obliged, delivering a fully deserved victory over Marco Silva’s ineffective team.

Everton’s second win in nine matches was relatively comfortable as Fulham highlighted why their top marksman this season is opposition own goals. Aside from a short spell in the second half, the away side were contained throughout by Everton’s greater urgency and quality. The Blues had three goals ruled out for offside, but a close-range strike 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 one needed a goal as much as the young striker, the Goodison Park forward who had failed to register a shot on target in 10 league games without testing the goalkeeper after his £27m summer arrival from Villarreal and missed a clear opportunity to put his team two goals ahead at the Stadium of Light on Monday. The youngster headed the first opportunity of the game wide of the Fulham keeper's goal frame when found by Iliman Ndiaye’s excellent delivery.

The home side controlled the early exchanges and the visiting shot-stopper pushed over James Garner’s long-range set-piece, awarded after Sasa Lukic was booked for hauling down Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall. The Serbian brought down the identical opponent again before halftime but the referee, the man in charge, rightly ignored home protests for a sending off. The Fulham boss was not risking anything, however, and substituted the player at the break.

The striker thought his fortune had changed at last when arriving at the far post to convert a low cross by his teammate. 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 on-field decision. Barry’s misfortune may have persisted in the final third, but his all-round performance justified the manager's choice to stick with him. His movement and effort occupied Fulham’s central defenders and helped give Everton the upper hand throughout.

Fulham came into the contest gradually with the Norwegian and the former Everton midfielder the Nigerian combining effectively in the engine room, but the early danger from the visitors was minimal. The Mexican striker fired weakly at the England keeper when teed up in the box by his teammate and sent a free-kick from a dangerous position straight into the defensive barrier. That summed up their attacking output.

The Blues, inspired by Dewsbury-Hall and Ndiaye, had a another strike disallowed for an infringement when the Fulham goalkeeper saved a effort from Keane and James Tarkowski fired home the loose ball. The skipper had moved offside when nodding down the winger's cross in the buildup. But the team's third attempt beating the keeper did stand. Vitalii Mykolenko 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 mishit the rebound, his teammate Gueye converted from point-blank. The sense of release inside the ground was palpable.

Everton had a further effort disallowed early in the second half after Dewsbury-Hall found the bottom corner from a further excellent delivery from the left. The attacker had cushioned the ball into Barry, who was in an offside position when competing with Joachim Anderson for the touch that reached the Everton midfielder. Everton would have to be patient until the 81st minute for the security of a two-goal lead. The provider was the architect with a set-piece that the defender directed past the goalkeeper. He scored with the upper body, and the visitors' protests for handball were rejected by VAR.

Fulham carried more of a threat following the substitutions of the forward, Rodrigo Muniz and Adama Traoré. The Everton keeper made a fine stop with his feet to prevent Muniz scoring with his initial involvement and stopped Traoré with another important stop in the dying moments.