🔗 Share this article

David Moyes had stressed before Fulham's visit that the onus for finding the back of the net must not rest only on his side's strikers. “I want more goals from my defenders and midfielders as well,” he insisted. The Senegalese midfielder and Michael Keane rose to the occasion, securing a merited victory over Marco Silva’s ineffective team.

Everton’s second victory in nine matches was fairly straightforward as the visitors showed why their leading scorer this season is opposition own goals. Apart from a brief flurry in the second half, the visitors were subdued throughout by Everton’s greater urgency and technical ability. The Blues had three efforts disallowed for offside, but a close-range strike from the midfielder in first-half stoppage time and the defender's second-half header ensured there would be no comeback for their ex-coach.

No one needed a goal more than Thierno Barry, the Everton attacker 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 2-0 up at the Stadium of Light earlier in the week. The youngster 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 early exchanges and the visiting shot-stopper pushed over the midfielder's 30-yard free-kick, awarded after the Fulham player was yellow-carded for fouling Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall. The Serbian brought down the identical opponent later in the half but the official, Andrew Madley, rightly ignored home protests for a second yellow. Silva was taking no further chances, though, and withdrew the midfielder at the interval.

The striker believed his fortune had finally turned when arriving at the back post to convert a low cross by his teammate. But the elation of a first Everton goal was erased by an linesman's decision. The attacker was in an illegal position when attacking the delivery, and missing, and the VAR backed up the original call. The forward's bad luck may have continued in the final third, but his all-round performance justified the manager's choice to stick with him. His runs and effort kept busy Fulham’s central defenders and contributed to Everton the upper hand throughout.

Fulham grew into the game gradually with the Norwegian and the former Everton midfielder the Nigerian combining effectively in midfield, but the early danger from the visitors was limited. Raúl Jiménez shot tamely at Jordon Pickford when teed up in the box by his teammate and sent a free-kick from a dangerous position straight into the defensive barrier. And that was it.

Everton, driven on by Dewsbury-Hall and Ndiaye, had a second goal chalked off for offside when Leno saved a effort from Keane and James Tarkowski volleyed in the loose ball. The skipper had moved offside when heading on Jack Grealish’s cross in the buildup. But Everton’s next effort beating the keeper did stand. The left-back delivered a perfect ball to the far post when found in space on the left by Tim Iroegbunam. Tarkowski connected with a thumping header off the crossbar and, though Iroegbunam fluffed his lines, his midfield partner Gueye finished from point-blank. The sense of release inside Hill Dickinson Stadium was evident.

Everton had a third goal ruled out early in the second half after the playmaker found the bottom corner from another inviting delivery from the left. The attacker had laid off the delivery into the striker, who was in an offside position when challenging the Fulham defender for the ball that reached the Everton midfielder. The team would have to be patient until the 81st minute for the security of a two-goal lead. Dewsbury-Hall was the creator with a corner that Keane directed past Leno. He scored with the back of his shoulder, and the visitors' protests for handball were dismissed by VAR.

Silva’s side posed more danger following the introductions of the forward, the Brazilian and the winger. Pickford made a fine stop with his legs to deny Muniz scoring with his first touch and stopped the speedster with another important stop late on.