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David Moyes had stressed before Fulham's visit that the responsibility for scoring goals must not rest only on his side's strikers. “I demand more goals from my defenders and midfielders as well,” he stated. Idrissa Gueye and the English defender duly obliged, securing a merited victory over Marco Silva’s toothless team.

Everton’s second victory in nine outings was fairly straightforward as the visitors showed why their top marksman this season is opposition own goals. Aside 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 efforts disallowed for infringements, but a poacher’s finish from the midfielder in added time before the break and Keane’s late conversion made sure there would be no reprieve for their ex-coach.

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 a shot on target after his £27m summer arrival from the Spanish side and spurned a gilt-edged chance to put his team 2-0 up at the Stadium of Light on Monday. The youngster headed the first opportunity of the game wide of Bernd Leno’s goal frame when found by Iliman Ndiaye’s excellent delivery.

Everton controlled the early exchanges and the visiting shot-stopper pushed over the midfielder's 30-yard free-kick, awarded after the Fulham player was yellow-carded for hauling down the Everton midfielder. Lukic tripped the same player later in the half but the official, the man in charge, rightly ignored home protests for a second yellow. Silva was not risking anything, however, and substituted the midfielder at the break.

The striker thought his fortune 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 wiped out by an linesman's decision. Ndiaye was in an illegal position when attacking Gueye’s cross, and missing, and the video assistant referee supported the original call. The forward's bad luck may have persisted in the final third, but his overall display validated Moyes’ decision to keep the faith. His runs and effort occupied Fulham’s central defenders and helped give the hosts the edge throughout.

Fulham grew into the game slowly with Sander Berge and the former Everton midfielder the Nigerian working well in the engine room, but the early danger from the away team was minimal. Raúl Jiménez fired weakly at Jordon Pickford when set up in the box by his teammate and put a free-kick from a dangerous position straight into the defensive barrier. That summed up their attacking output.

The Blues, inspired by the midfielder and the forward, had a second goal chalked off for an infringement when the Fulham goalkeeper saved a effort from Keane and the captain fired home the loose ball. The skipper had just strayed offside when nodding down the winger's delivery in the buildup. But the team's third attempt past the keeper did stand. Vitalii Mykolenko floated a lovely cross to the far post when found in space on the left flank by the youngster. The defender met it with a powerful nod off the crossbar and, though Iroegbunam mishit the rebound, his midfield partner the scorer converted from point-blank. The sense of release inside Hill Dickinson Stadium was evident.

The home side had a third goal ruled out early in the second half after the playmaker found the bottom corner from another inviting delivery from the left. Ndiaye had cushioned the delivery into the striker, who was offside when challenging Joachim Anderson for the touch that reached the Everton midfielder. The team 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 the defender glanced past the goalkeeper. He did so with the back of his shoulder, and Fulham’s appeals for a handball were rejected by VAR.

Silva’s side posed more danger following the substitutions of the forward, Rodrigo Muniz and Adama Traoré. Pickford saved well with his feet to prevent Muniz scoring with his initial involvement and stopped the speedster with another important stop in the dying moments.