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The Everton manager had emphasized before the match against Fulham that the responsibility for scoring goals should not fall solely on the team's forwards. “I want more goals from my defenders and central players as well,” he declared. Idrissa Gueye and the English defender responded perfectly, delivering a fully deserved victory over the opposition's ineffective side.

The Merseyside club's second win in nine matches was relatively comfortable as Fulham demonstrated why their top marksman this season is opposition own goals. Apart from a short spell in the latter period, the away side were contained throughout by Everton’s greater urgency and technical ability. The Blues had three goals disallowed 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 reprieve for the former Everton manager.

No player was more in need of scoring 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 missed a clear opportunity to put his team 2-0 up at Sunderland earlier in the week. The youngster directed the first opportunity of the game wide of Bernd Leno’s goal frame when picked out by Iliman Ndiaye’s excellent delivery.

Everton controlled the early exchanges and the Fulham goalkeeper pushed over James Garner’s 30-yard free-kick, awarded after Sasa Lukic was yellow-carded for hauling down Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall. Lukic tripped the same player again before halftime but the referee, the man in charge, correctly waved away Everton appeals for a sending off. Silva was not risking anything, however, and substituted the player at the interval.

The striker believed his luck had finally turned when arriving at the far post to convert a low cross by Gueye. But the elation of a first Everton goal was erased by an assistant referee’s flag. The attacker was offside when going for the delivery, and missing, and the VAR backed up the on-field decision. Barry’s misfortune may have continued in front of goal, but his all-round performance justified the manager's choice to stick with him. His runs and effort occupied Fulham’s central defenders and contributed to Everton the edge all game.

Fulham came into the contest slowly with Sander Berge and the ex-Goodison player the Nigerian combining effectively in the engine room, but the early danger from the away team was minimal. The Mexican striker shot tamely at Jordon Pickford when set up inside the area by his teammate and put a set-piece from a dangerous position directly at the Everton wall. And that was it.

Everton, inspired by Dewsbury-Hall and Ndiaye, had a second goal chalked off for an infringement when Leno parried a effort from Keane and James Tarkowski fired home the loose ball. The skipper had moved offside when heading on Jack Grealish’s delivery in the build-up. But the team's third attempt beating the keeper counted. The left-back floated a lovely cross to the far post when found in space on the left flank by the youngster. Tarkowski 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 relief inside the ground was palpable.

Everton had a third goal disallowed early in the second half after Dewsbury-Hall found the bottom corner from a further excellent Mykolenko cross. The attacker had laid off the delivery into the striker, who was in an offside position when challenging the Fulham defender for the touch that fell to the Everton midfielder. Everton would have to be patient until the 81st minute for the comfort of a second goal. The provider was the architect with a set-piece that the defender directed over Leno. He did so with the back of his shoulder, and Fulham’s appeals for a handball were rejected by the video official.

Silva’s side carried more of a threat after the substitutions of the forward, Rodrigo Muniz and Adama Traoré. Pickford made a fine stop with his feet to prevent the substitute scoring with his initial involvement and stopped the speedster with a crucial save in the dying moments.