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The Everton manager had made clear before the match against Fulham that the responsibility for finding the back of the net must not fall solely on the team's forwards. “I demand more goals from my defenders and central players as well,” he insisted. The Senegalese midfielder and Michael Keane rose to the occasion, delivering a fully deserved victory over Marco Silva’s toothless side.

The Merseyside club's second victory in nine matches was largely untroubled as the visitors showed the reason their top marksman this season is opposition own goals. Apart from a brief flurry in the second half, the visitors were contained all match by Everton’s greater urgency and technical ability. The Blues had three efforts ruled out for offside, but a close-range strike from the midfielder in added time before the break and the defender's late conversion ensured there would be no comeback for their ex-coach.

No player was more in need of scoring more than Thierno Barry, the Everton attacker who had failed to register a shot on target in 10 league games 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 on Monday. The 23-year-old directed the first opportunity of the game wide of Bernd Leno’s goal frame when picked out by his teammate's excellent delivery.

The home side dominated the early exchanges and the visiting shot-stopper pushed over James Garner’s long-range set-piece, awarded after Sasa Lukic was yellow-carded for fouling Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall. The Serbian tripped the identical opponent later in the half but the official, the man in charge, rightly ignored home protests for a sending off. Silva was taking no further chances, however, and substituted the midfielder at the break.

Barry believed his luck had changed at last when arriving at the far post to turn in a drilled pass by Gueye. But the joy of a first Everton goal was erased by an linesman's decision. Ndiaye was offside when attacking the delivery, and missing, and the VAR supported the original call. The forward's bad luck may have persisted in the final third, but his all-round performance validated the manager's choice to stick with him. His runs and effort kept busy the opposition's back line and helped give the hosts the edge all game.

The Londoners came into the contest slowly with Sander Berge and the ex-Goodison player the Nigerian combining effectively in the engine room, but the first half threat from the away team was minimal. Raúl Jiménez fired weakly at the England keeper when set up in the box by his teammate and put a set-piece from a promising location straight into the defensive barrier. That summed up their attacking output.

The Blues, driven on by Dewsbury-Hall and Ndiaye, had a another strike chalked off for an infringement when the Fulham goalkeeper parried a Keane header and James Tarkowski fired home the rebound. The skipper had just strayed offside when nodding down the winger's delivery in the buildup. But the team's third attempt past Leno counted. Vitalii Mykolenko floated a perfect ball to the far post when left unmarked on the left flank by Tim Iroegbunam. The defender met it with a powerful nod off the crossbar and, though Iroegbunam mishit the rebound, his midfield partner the scorer finished from close range. The sense of release inside Hill Dickinson Stadium was palpable.

The home side had a further effort ruled out after the restart after the playmaker found the bottom corner from a further excellent delivery from the left. Ndiaye had cushioned the delivery into Barry, who was in an offside position when challenging the Fulham defender for the touch that reached the home player. The team would have to wait until the closing stages for the comfort of a two-goal lead. The provider was the architect with a corner that Keane directed past the goalkeeper. He did so with the back of his shoulder, and the visitors' protests for a handball were dismissed by the video official.

Fulham posed more danger after the introductions of the forward, the Brazilian and Adama Traoré. The Everton keeper saved well with his legs to deny Muniz scoring with his first touch and denied the speedster with a crucial save in the dying moments.