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The Everton manager had stressed before the match against Fulham that the onus for scoring goals should not rest only on his side's forwards. “I want more goals from my centre-halves and central players as well,” he insisted. The Senegalese midfielder and the English defender duly obliged, delivering a well-earned victory over the opposition's ineffective team.

The Merseyside club's second win in nine outings was fairly straightforward as the visitors demonstrated why their top marksman this season is goals gifted by opponents. Apart from a brief flurry in the second half, the away side were kept quiet all match by the home team's superior intensity and technical ability. Moyes’ team had three goals ruled out for infringements, but a poacher’s finish from Gueye in first-half stoppage time and the defender's late conversion ensured there would be no comeback for their ex-coach.

No player needed a goal more than the young striker, the Goodison Park attacker who had gone 10 Premier League outings without testing the goalkeeper after his £27m summer arrival from the Spanish side and spurned a gilt-edged chance to put his team 2-0 up at Sunderland on Monday. The youngster headed the first opportunity of the game wide of Bernd Leno’s crossbar when picked out by Iliman Ndiaye’s excellent delivery.

Everton controlled the opening stages and the Fulham goalkeeper tipped over James Garner’s long-range set-piece, given after the Fulham player was booked for fouling Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall. Lukic tripped the same player again before halftime but the referee, Andrew Madley, rightly ignored home protests for a second yellow. The Fulham boss was not risking anything, though, and substituted the midfielder at the interval.

Barry thought his luck 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 erased by an linesman's decision. The attacker was in an illegal position when attacking Gueye’s cross, and failing to connect, and the VAR supported 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 work-rate occupied Fulham’s central defenders and contributed to Everton the upper hand all game.

Fulham grew into the game gradually with Sander Berge 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 in the box by Iwobi and put a free-kick from a promising location straight into the defensive barrier. And that was it.

The Blues, inspired by Dewsbury-Hall and Ndiaye, had a another strike chalked off for an infringement when Leno saved a effort from Keane and James Tarkowski fired home the loose ball. The home captain had moved beyond the last defender when heading on the winger's cross in the build-up. But the team's third attempt beating Leno did stand. Vitalii Mykolenko floated a lovely cross to the far post when found in space on the left flank by Tim Iroegbunam. The defender connected with a thumping header off the crossbar and, though Iroegbunam fluffed his lines, his teammate Gueye finished from point-blank. The relief inside Hill Dickinson Stadium was palpable.

The home side had a third goal ruled out early in the second half after the playmaker scored from another inviting delivery from the left. Ndiaye had laid off the ball into Barry, who was in an offside position when competing with the Fulham defender for the touch that reached the Everton midfielder. Everton would have to be patient until the closing stages for the security of a two-goal lead. Dewsbury-Hall was the architect with a set-piece that Keane glanced over the goalkeeper. He scored with the back of his shoulder, and the visitors' protests for handball were rejected by the video official.

Silva’s side carried more of a threat following the introductions of the forward, Rodrigo Muniz and the winger. Pickford made a fine stop with his legs to prevent the substitute scoring with his first touch and stopped the speedster with a crucial save late on.