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The Everton manager had stressed before the match against Fulham that the responsibility for scoring goals must not rest only on the team's forwards. “I expect more goals from my defenders and midfielders as well,” he insisted. Idrissa Gueye and Michael Keane duly obliged, delivering a fully deserved victory over the opposition's ineffective side.

Everton’s second win in nine outings was fairly straightforward as the visitors highlighted why their top marksman this season is goals gifted by opponents. Aside from a brief flurry in the latter period, the away side were subdued all match by the home team's superior intensity and quality. Moyes’ team had three goals disallowed for offside, but a close-range strike from the midfielder in added time before the break and Keane’s late conversion ensured there would be no reprieve for their ex-coach.

No one needed a goal more than Thierno Barry, the Goodison Park forward who had gone 10 Premier League outings without testing the goalkeeper after his £27m summer arrival from Villarreal and missed a clear opportunity to put his team two goals ahead at the Stadium of Light earlier in the week. The 23-year-old directed the earliest chance of the game wide of Bernd Leno’s goal frame when found by Iliman Ndiaye’s fine cross.

Everton controlled the opening stages and the visiting shot-stopper tipped over James Garner’s 30-yard free-kick, awarded after the Fulham player was booked for fouling Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall. Lukic tripped the same player again before halftime but the referee, the man in charge, correctly waved away home protests for a second yellow. Silva was not risking anything, though, and substituted the midfielder at the interval.

The striker believed his luck had finally turned when arriving at the back post to turn in a low cross by his teammate. But the elation of a first Everton goal was wiped out by an linesman's decision. The attacker was in an illegal position when going for Gueye’s cross, and missing, and the video assistant referee backed up the original call. The forward's bad luck may have persisted in the final third, but his all-round performance validated Moyes’ decision to stick with him. His runs and effort kept busy Fulham’s central defenders and contributed to Everton the upper hand all game.

The Londoners came into the contest slowly with Sander Berge and the former Everton midfielder Alex Iwobi combining effectively in midfield, but the early danger from the visitors was minimal. The Mexican striker fired weakly at Jordon Pickford when teed up inside the area by his teammate and put a set-piece from a dangerous position directly at the Everton wall. And that was it.

Everton, driven on by the midfielder and Ndiaye, had a another strike chalked off for an infringement when the Fulham goalkeeper parried a Keane header and the captain fired home the rebound. The skipper had just strayed beyond the last defender when nodding down Jack Grealish’s delivery in the build-up. But Everton’s third attempt past the keeper counted. The left-back delivered a perfect ball to the far post when found in space on the left by the youngster. Tarkowski connected with a thumping header against the bar and, though the midfielder fluffed his lines, his teammate Gueye converted from point-blank. The sense of release inside the ground was evident.

Everton had a further effort ruled out after the restart after the playmaker scored from a further excellent delivery from the left. The attacker had laid off the delivery into Barry, who was offside when competing with Joachim Anderson for the ball that fell to the Everton midfielder. The team would have to wait until the 81st minute for the comfort of a second goal. Dewsbury-Hall was the architect with a corner that the defender directed over Leno. He did so with the upper body, and Fulham’s appeals for handball were dismissed by VAR.

Silva’s side carried more of a threat following the introductions of Josh King, Rodrigo Muniz and Adama Traoré. Pickford made a fine stop with his legs to deny Muniz scoring with his first touch and stopped Traoré with another important stop late on.