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The Everton manager had stressed before Fulham's visit that the responsibility for finding the back of the net must not rest only on the team's strikers. “I want more goals from my defenders and midfielders as well,” he insisted. Idrissa Gueye and the English defender duly obliged, delivering a well-earned victory over the opposition's toothless side.

The Merseyside club's second win in nine outings was fairly straightforward as the visitors highlighted why their leading scorer this season is opposition own goals. Apart from a short spell in the latter period, the away side were contained throughout by the home team's superior intensity and quality. Moyes’ team had three goals ruled out for offside, but a close-range strike from Gueye in added time before the break and the defender's late conversion ensured there would be no reprieve for the former Everton manager.

No one needed a goal more than the young striker, the Everton forward who had failed to register a shot on target in 10 league games without a shot on target after his big-money move from the Spanish side and missed a clear opportunity to put his team 2-0 up at Sunderland on Monday. The youngster directed the earliest chance of the game wide of Bernd Leno’s goal frame when found by Iliman Ndiaye’s fine cross.

Everton dominated the opening stages and the Fulham goalkeeper pushed over the midfielder's long-range set-piece, given after Sasa Lukic was booked for hauling down the Everton midfielder. The Serbian tripped the identical opponent later in the half but the official, the man in charge, correctly waved away Everton appeals for a sending off. The Fulham boss was not risking anything, though, and withdrew the player at the interval.

The striker believed his fortune had changed at last when arriving at the far post to turn in a drilled pass by his teammate. But the joy of a first Everton goal was wiped out by an assistant referee’s flag. Ndiaye was offside when attacking Gueye’s cross, and failing to connect, and the video assistant referee supported the original call. The forward's bad luck may have continued in the final third, but his all-round performance justified Moyes’ decision to keep the faith. His movement and effort kept busy Fulham’s central defenders and helped give Everton the edge throughout.

Fulham came into the contest gradually with Sander Berge and the former Everton midfielder Alex Iwobi combining effectively in midfield, but the early danger from the away team was minimal. Raúl Jiménez fired weakly at Jordon Pickford when teed up inside the area by Iwobi and put a set-piece from a promising location directly at the defensive barrier. And that was it.

Everton, driven on by Dewsbury-Hall and Ndiaye, had a another strike chalked off for offside when the Fulham goalkeeper parried a Keane header and James Tarkowski fired home the loose ball. The skipper had just strayed beyond the last defender when nodding down the winger's cross in the build-up. But the team's next effort beating Leno counted. Vitalii Mykolenko floated a perfect ball to the back post when left unmarked on the left by the youngster. Tarkowski connected with a powerful nod against the bar and, though the midfielder fluffed his lines, his teammate Gueye converted from close range. The sense of release inside the ground was evident.

Everton had a further effort ruled out early in the second half after the playmaker found the bottom corner from another inviting Mykolenko cross. Ndiaye had cushioned the delivery into the striker, who was offside when challenging Joachim Anderson for the ball that fell to the Everton midfielder. The team would have to be patient until the 81st minute for the security of a second goal. The provider was the creator with a corner that Keane glanced past Leno. He scored with the back of his shoulder, and Fulham’s appeals for handball were dismissed by the video official.

Fulham posed more danger after the introductions of the forward, Rodrigo Muniz and the winger. The Everton keeper made a fine stop with his feet to prevent the substitute scoring with his first touch and stopped the speedster with a crucial save late on.