🔗 Share this article

David Moyes had made clear before Fulham's visit that the responsibility for finding the back of the net must not fall solely on the team's forwards. “I want more goals from my defenders and midfielders as well,” he insisted. Idrissa Gueye and the English defender responded perfectly, securing a merited victory over the opposition's ineffective side.

The Merseyside club's second victory in nine matches was largely untroubled as Fulham showed the reason their leading scorer this season is opposition own goals. Aside from a brief flurry in the second half, the away side were kept quiet all match by Everton’s superior intensity and quality. The Blues had three goals disallowed for offside, but a poacher’s finish from Gueye in first-half stoppage time and Keane’s late conversion made sure there would be no comeback for the former Everton manager.

No one was more in need of scoring as much as the young striker, the Everton forward who had gone 10 Premier League outings without testing the goalkeeper after his big-money move from the Spanish side and missed a clear opportunity to put his team two goals ahead at the Stadium of Light earlier in the week. The youngster directed the earliest chance of the game over the Fulham keeper's goal frame when picked out by Iliman Ndiaye’s excellent delivery.

Everton dominated the opening stages and the Fulham goalkeeper pushed over the midfielder's long-range set-piece, awarded after Sasa Lukic was yellow-carded for fouling the Everton midfielder. The Serbian brought down the same player later in the half but the official, Andrew Madley, correctly waved away Everton appeals for a second yellow. Silva was not risking anything, though, and substituted the midfielder at the break.

The striker thought his fortune had changed at last when sliding in at the far post to turn in a low cross by Gueye. But the joy of a first Everton goal was wiped out by an assistant referee’s flag. The attacker was offside when going for Gueye’s cross, and failing to connect, and the video assistant referee backed up the original call. The forward's bad luck may have continued in front of goal, but his overall display validated the manager's choice to keep the faith. His runs and work-rate kept busy the opposition's back line and helped give Everton the upper hand all game.

The Londoners grew into the game gradually with the Norwegian and the ex-Goodison player Alex Iwobi combining effectively in the engine room, but the early danger from the away team was minimal. The Mexican striker shot tamely at Jordon Pickford when teed up inside the area by his teammate and put a set-piece from a dangerous position straight into the defensive barrier. And that was it.

The Blues, inspired by the midfielder and the forward, had a another strike disallowed for offside when the Fulham goalkeeper parried a Keane header and the captain fired home the loose ball. The skipper had just strayed beyond the last defender when nodding down the winger's cross in the buildup. But Everton’s third attempt past the keeper did stand. The left-back delivered a perfect ball to the far post when found in space on the left flank by Tim Iroegbunam. Tarkowski met it with a powerful nod off the crossbar and, though the midfielder mishit the rebound, his teammate the scorer converted from close range. The sense of release inside Hill Dickinson Stadium was evident.

Everton had a further effort ruled out early in the second half after the playmaker scored from a further excellent Mykolenko cross. 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. Everton would have to wait until the closing stages for the comfort of a two-goal lead. The provider was the creator with a set-piece that the defender glanced past Leno. He scored with the back of his shoulder, and Fulham’s appeals for a handball were dismissed by VAR.

Fulham carried more of a threat following the substitutions of the forward, Rodrigo Muniz and the winger. Pickford made a fine stop with his legs to deny the substitute scoring with his initial involvement and stopped the speedster with another important stop late on.