Gueye and Michael Keane on target as Everton defeat Fulham

David Moyes had stressed before the match against Fulham that the onus for finding the back of the net should not fall solely on the team's strikers. “I demand more goals from my centre-halves and midfielders as well,” he insisted. The Senegalese midfielder and the English defender responded perfectly, delivering a merited victory over Marco Silva’s ineffective side.

The Merseyside club's second victory in nine outings was largely untroubled as Fulham demonstrated why their leading scorer this season is goals gifted by opponents. Apart from a brief flurry in the latter period, the away side were kept quiet all match by the home team's greater urgency and quality. The Blues had three goals disallowed for offside, but a close-range strike from Gueye in added time before the break and Keane’s late conversion made sure there would be no comeback for the former Everton manager.

No player was more in need of scoring as much as Thierno Barry, the Goodison Park attacker who had gone 10 Premier League outings without a shot on target after his big-money move from the Spanish side and spurned a gilt-edged chance to put his team two goals ahead at Sunderland on Monday. The youngster directed the earliest chance of the game wide of Bernd Leno’s crossbar when found by his teammate's fine cross.

The home side controlled the opening stages and the visiting shot-stopper pushed over the midfielder's 30-yard free-kick, awarded after Sasa Lukic was booked for hauling down Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall. Lukic tripped the identical opponent later in the half but the official, the man in charge, rightly ignored home protests for a sending off. The Fulham boss was not risking anything, though, and substituted the midfielder at the interval.

Barry thought his luck had changed at last when sliding in at the back post to convert a drilled pass by his teammate. But the joy of a maiden strike was erased by an linesman's decision. The attacker was offside when attacking the delivery, and failing to connect, and the video assistant referee supported the on-field decision. The forward's bad luck may have continued in the final third, but his all-round performance justified Moyes’ decision to stick with him. His runs and work-rate occupied Fulham’s central defenders and helped give Everton the upper hand throughout.

Fulham came into the contest slowly with Sander Berge and the ex-Goodison player the Nigerian working well in midfield, but the first half threat from the visitors was minimal. The Mexican striker fired weakly at Jordon Pickford when teed up inside the area by Iwobi and sent a free-kick from a dangerous position directly at the Everton wall. And that was it.

The Blues, driven on by the midfielder and the forward, had a second goal disallowed for offside when Leno saved a Keane header and the captain volleyed in the rebound. The skipper had moved offside when nodding down the winger's delivery in the build-up. But Everton’s third attempt beating Leno did stand. Vitalii Mykolenko delivered 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 Iroegbunam mishit the rebound, his teammate the scorer finished from point-blank. The relief inside Hill Dickinson Stadium was palpable.

The home side had a further effort disallowed early in the second half after Dewsbury-Hall scored from a further excellent delivery from the left. Ndiaye had laid off the delivery into Barry, who was offside when competing with Joachim Anderson for the touch that reached the Everton midfielder. Everton would have to wait until the 81st minute for the security of a two-goal lead. The provider was the architect with a corner that Keane glanced over the goalkeeper. He scored with the back of his shoulder, and the visitors' protests for handball were dismissed by the video official.

Fulham posed more danger following the introductions of Josh King, the Brazilian and the winger. Pickford made a fine stop with his legs to prevent the substitute finding the net with his first touch and stopped the speedster with another important stop late on.