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The Everton manager had stressed before the match against Fulham that the onus for scoring goals should not fall solely on his side's strikers. “I want more goals from my centre-halves and midfielders as well,” he declared. Idrissa Gueye and the English defender duly obliged, earning a well-earned victory over Marco Silva’s toothless side.

The Merseyside club's second victory in nine matches was fairly straightforward as the visitors highlighted the reason their leading scorer this season is goals gifted by opponents. Apart from a brief flurry in the second half, the away side were kept quiet throughout by the home team's greater urgency and technical ability. The Blues had three goals ruled out for infringements, but a poacher’s finish from Gueye in first-half stoppage time and Keane’s second-half header made sure there would be no reprieve for their ex-coach.

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 the Stadium of Light earlier in the week. The 23-year-old headed the earliest chance of the game over the Fulham keeper's goal frame when picked out by Iliman Ndiaye’s fine cross.

Everton dominated the opening stages and the Fulham goalkeeper tipped over James Garner’s long-range set-piece, awarded after the Fulham player was yellow-carded for fouling Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall. Lukic brought down the same player again before halftime but the referee, Andrew Madley, correctly waved away home protests for a sending off. The Fulham boss was not risking anything, though, and substituted the player at the interval.

Barry thought his fortune had changed at last when arriving at the far post to convert a low cross by Gueye. But the joy of a maiden strike was wiped out by an linesman's decision. Ndiaye was offside when going for the delivery, and failing to connect, and the video assistant referee supported the original call. The forward's bad luck may have persisted in front of goal, but his all-round performance justified the manager's choice to stick with him. His runs and effort occupied the opposition's back line and contributed to Everton the upper hand throughout.

Fulham grew into the game gradually with Sander Berge and the ex-Goodison player Alex Iwobi combining effectively in the engine room, but the early danger from the visitors was minimal. The Mexican striker shot tamely at Jordon Pickford when set up inside the area by Iwobi and put a free-kick from a promising location directly at the defensive barrier. And that was it.

Everton, inspired by Dewsbury-Hall and Ndiaye, had a second goal chalked off for offside when the Fulham goalkeeper saved a Keane header and the captain fired home the loose ball. The skipper had moved beyond the last defender when nodding down Jack Grealish’s delivery in the build-up. But Everton’s third attempt beating the keeper counted. Vitalii Mykolenko floated a lovely cross to the far post when left unmarked on the left flank by Tim Iroegbunam. Tarkowski connected with a thumping header off the crossbar and, though Iroegbunam fluffed his lines, his teammate Gueye finished from close range. The sense of release inside the ground was evident.

The home side had a further effort disallowed after the restart after Dewsbury-Hall scored from a further excellent delivery from the left. The attacker had cushioned the delivery into the striker, 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 comfort of a second goal. The provider was the creator with a corner that the defender glanced past the goalkeeper. He scored with the upper body, and Fulham’s appeals for a handball were dismissed by VAR.

Silva’s side carried more of a threat after the substitutions of the forward, Rodrigo Muniz and the winger. Pickford made a fine stop with his feet to deny the substitute finding the net with his first touch and denied Traoré with a crucial save in the dying moments.