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David Moyes had emphasized before the match against Fulham that the responsibility for scoring goals should not fall solely on his side's forwards. “I want more goals from my centre-halves and midfielders as well,” he insisted. The Senegalese midfielder and the English defender duly obliged, delivering a merited victory over Marco Silva’s ineffective side.

Everton’s second win in nine outings was largely untroubled as the visitors demonstrated the reason their leading scorer this season is opposition own goals. Apart from a short spell in the latter period, the away side were kept quiet throughout by Everton’s greater urgency and quality. The Blues had three efforts ruled out for offside, but a close-range strike from Gueye in added time before the break and the defender's second-half header ensured there would be no reprieve for their ex-coach.

No one needed a goal more than the young striker, 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 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 goal frame when picked out by Iliman Ndiaye’s fine cross.

The home side controlled the opening stages and the visiting shot-stopper pushed over the midfielder's long-range set-piece, awarded after Sasa Lukic was yellow-carded for fouling Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall. The Serbian brought down the identical opponent later in the half but the official, the man in charge, correctly waved away home protests for a sending off. Silva was not risking anything, however, 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 drilled pass by his teammate. But the joy of a maiden strike was erased by an assistant referee’s flag. Ndiaye was in an illegal position when attacking Gueye’s cross, and failing to connect, and the video assistant referee supported the on-field decision. Barry’s misfortune may have persisted in the final third, but his overall display justified Moyes’ decision to keep the faith. His runs and work-rate occupied the opposition's back line and contributed to Everton the edge throughout.

The Londoners came into the contest slowly with the Norwegian and the ex-Goodison player the Nigerian combining effectively in midfield, but the early danger 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 straight into the Everton wall. That summed up their attacking output.

Everton, driven on by Dewsbury-Hall and the forward, had a second goal disallowed for an infringement when the Fulham goalkeeper saved a Keane header and the captain volleyed in the rebound. The home captain had just strayed offside when heading on the winger's delivery in the buildup. But Everton’s third attempt beating the keeper counted. The left-back delivered a lovely cross to the back post when left unmarked on the left by the youngster. The defender met it with a thumping header off the crossbar and, though Iroegbunam mishit the rebound, his midfield partner the scorer converted from close range. The sense of release inside the ground was evident.

Everton had a third goal disallowed early in the second half after the playmaker found the bottom corner from a further excellent Mykolenko cross. The attacker had laid off the ball into Barry, who was offside when challenging the Fulham defender for the ball that fell to the Everton midfielder. Everton would have to wait until the closing stages for the comfort of a second goal. The provider was the architect with a set-piece that the defender glanced past Leno. He scored with the back of his shoulder, and the visitors' protests for a handball were rejected by VAR.

Fulham carried more of a threat after the introductions of Josh King, Rodrigo Muniz and the winger. Pickford saved well with his feet to prevent Muniz finding the net with his first touch and stopped the speedster with another important stop in the dying moments.