Gueye along with Michael Keane find the net as the Toffees sink Fulham

The Everton manager had stressed before Fulham's visit that the onus for finding the back of the net should not fall solely on the team's forwards. “I demand more goals from my defenders and central players as well,” he insisted. The Senegalese midfielder and Michael Keane duly obliged, earning a well-earned victory over Marco Silva’s toothless team.

Everton’s second victory in nine matches was largely untroubled as Fulham demonstrated the reason their leading scorer this season is opposition own goals. Apart from a brief flurry in the latter period, the visitors were subdued all match by the home team's superior intensity and technical ability. The Blues had three goals disallowed for infringements, but a close-range strike from the midfielder in added time before the break and Keane’s second-half header made sure there would be no comeback for the former Everton manager.

No one was more in need of scoring more than the young striker, the Everton forward 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 2-0 up at the Stadium of Light earlier in the week. The youngster headed the first opportunity of the game over Bernd Leno’s crossbar when found by his teammate's fine cross.

The home side controlled the early exchanges and the Fulham goalkeeper tipped over the midfielder's long-range set-piece, given after Sasa Lukic was booked for hauling down the Everton midfielder. Lukic brought down the same player later in the half but the referee, Andrew Madley, rightly ignored Everton appeals for a sending off. Silva was taking no further chances, however, and withdrew the player at the break.

The striker thought his luck had changed at last when sliding in at the far post to convert a low cross by Gueye. But the elation of a maiden strike was wiped out by an linesman's decision. The attacker was in an illegal position when going for the delivery, and missing, and the video assistant referee backed up the on-field decision. Barry’s misfortune may have persisted in the final third, but his overall display validated the manager's choice to keep the faith. His movement and effort occupied Fulham’s central defenders and helped give the hosts the upper hand throughout.

Fulham grew into the game slowly with the Norwegian and the former Everton midfielder the Nigerian combining effectively in the engine room, but the first half threat from the away team was limited. Raúl Jiménez shot tamely at Jordon Pickford when teed up inside the area by Iwobi and sent a set-piece from a promising location straight into the Everton wall. And that was it.

Everton, inspired by Dewsbury-Hall and Ndiaye, had a another strike chalked off for an infringement when Leno parried a Keane header and James Tarkowski fired home the rebound. The skipper had moved offside when nodding down the winger's cross in the build-up. But Everton’s third attempt past Leno did stand. Vitalii Mykolenko floated a perfect ball to the far post when found in space on the left by Tim Iroegbunam. The defender connected with a thumping header off the crossbar and, though the midfielder mishit the rebound, his teammate the scorer finished from point-blank. The sense of release inside Hill Dickinson Stadium was evident.

The home side had a third goal ruled out early in the second half after Dewsbury-Hall found the bottom corner from another inviting Mykolenko cross. 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 closing stages for the comfort of a two-goal lead. Dewsbury-Hall was the architect with a set-piece that the defender glanced past Leno. He scored with the back of his shoulder, and the visitors' protests for a handball were dismissed by VAR.

Silva’s side carried more of a threat after the substitutions of the forward, Rodrigo Muniz and Adama Traoré. The Everton keeper made a fine stop with his feet to prevent Muniz finding the net with his first touch and denied the speedster with another important stop in the dying moments.