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The Everton manager had stressed before the match against Fulham that the onus for finding the back of the net must not fall solely on his side's forwards. “I demand more goals from my centre-halves and midfielders as well,” he insisted. Idrissa Gueye and the English defender duly obliged, earning a merited victory over Marco Silva’s ineffective side.

Everton’s second victory in nine outings was fairly straightforward as the visitors demonstrated the reason their leading scorer this season is goals gifted by opponents. Apart from a brief flurry in the latter period, the visitors were contained throughout by Everton’s greater urgency and quality. The Blues had three goals ruled out for offside, but a close-range strike from Gueye in added time before the break and Keane’s second-half header ensured there would be no reprieve for their ex-coach.

No player was more in need of scoring as much as the young striker, the Everton attacker who had failed to register a shot on target in 10 league games without testing the goalkeeper after his big-money move from Villarreal and spurned a gilt-edged chance to put his team 2-0 up at the Stadium of Light earlier in the week. The youngster directed the earliest chance of the game wide of Bernd Leno’s goal frame when picked out by his teammate's fine cross.

The home side dominated the opening stages 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 identical opponent later in the half but the official, Andrew Madley, rightly ignored home protests for a sending off. The Fulham boss was taking no further chances, though, and withdrew the player 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 elation of a first Everton goal was wiped out by an linesman's decision. Ndiaye was offside when going for the delivery, and missing, and the video assistant referee backed up the original call. 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 effort occupied Fulham’s central defenders and helped give the hosts the edge all game.

Fulham came into the contest gradually with the Norwegian and the ex-Goodison player the Nigerian combining effectively in midfield, but the first half threat from the away team was minimal. Raúl Jiménez shot tamely at Jordon Pickford when set up in the box by Iwobi 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 the midfielder and Ndiaye, had a another strike disallowed for offside when Leno saved a Keane header and James Tarkowski fired home the loose ball. The home captain had just strayed offside when heading on Jack Grealish’s cross in the build-up. But Everton’s third attempt past Leno counted. Vitalii Mykolenko floated a lovely cross to the back post when left unmarked on the left by the youngster. Tarkowski met it with a powerful nod off the crossbar and, though the midfielder mishit the rebound, his teammate the scorer finished from point-blank. The sense of release inside the ground was palpable.

The home side had a third goal ruled out early in the second half after Dewsbury-Hall found the bottom corner from another inviting delivery from the left. The attacker had cushioned the delivery into Barry, who was offside when competing with the Fulham defender for the touch that fell to the Everton midfielder. The team would have to wait until the 81st minute for the security of a two-goal lead. The provider was the creator with a set-piece that the defender glanced over Leno. He scored with the back of his shoulder, and Fulham’s appeals for a handball were dismissed by the video official.

Fulham posed more danger following the substitutions of the forward, Rodrigo Muniz and the winger. The Everton keeper saved well with his feet to prevent the substitute scoring with his initial involvement and stopped Traoré with a crucial save in the dying moments.