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The Everton manager had stressed before the match against Fulham that the onus for scoring goals should not rest only on his side's strikers. “I demand more goals from my defenders and central players as well,” he insisted. Idrissa Gueye and Michael Keane responded perfectly, delivering a merited victory over the opposition's toothless side.

The Merseyside club's second victory in nine outings was largely untroubled as the visitors highlighted the reason their leading scorer this season is opposition own goals. Aside from a brief flurry in the second half, the away side were contained all match by Everton’s greater urgency and technical ability. The Blues had three efforts disallowed for offside, but a poacher’s finish from Gueye in first-half stoppage time and the defender's late conversion ensured there would be no reprieve for the former Everton manager.

No player was more in need of scoring more than the young striker, the Goodison Park attacker who had failed to register a shot on target in 10 league games without a shot on target after his £27m summer arrival from the Spanish side and spurned a gilt-edged chance to put his team 2-0 up at Sunderland on Monday. The 23-year-old headed the earliest chance of the game wide of the Fulham keeper's goal frame when picked out by Iliman Ndiaye’s excellent delivery.

Everton controlled the early exchanges and the visiting shot-stopper pushed over the midfielder's 30-yard free-kick, given after Sasa Lukic was booked for fouling Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall. Lukic brought down the same player later in the half but the referee, Andrew Madley, rightly ignored Everton appeals for a second yellow. The Fulham boss was taking no further chances, though, and substituted the player at the interval.

The striker thought his luck had finally turned when arriving at the far post to turn in a low cross by his teammate. But the elation of a maiden strike was erased by an assistant referee’s flag. The attacker was offside when attacking the delivery, and failing to connect, and the VAR backed up the on-field decision. The forward's bad luck may have persisted in the final third, but his overall display justified the manager's choice to stick with him. His movement and work-rate occupied Fulham’s central defenders and helped give the hosts the upper hand throughout.

The Londoners came into the contest slowly with Sander Berge and the former Everton midfielder the Nigerian combining effectively in the engine room, but the early danger from the away team was limited. Raúl Jiménez shot tamely at Jordon Pickford when set up in the box by his teammate and put a set-piece from a promising location directly at the Everton wall. That summed up their attacking output.

The Blues, inspired by the midfielder and the forward, had a second goal chalked off for offside when the Fulham goalkeeper parried a effort from Keane and James Tarkowski fired home the rebound. The skipper had moved offside when nodding down Jack Grealish’s delivery in the build-up. But the team's third attempt past the keeper did stand. Vitalii Mykolenko delivered a perfect ball to the back post when found in space on the left flank by the youngster. The defender met it with a thumping header off the crossbar and, though the midfielder mishit the rebound, his teammate Gueye finished from close range. The relief inside Hill Dickinson Stadium was evident.

The home side had a third goal disallowed early in the second half after Dewsbury-Hall scored 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. Everton would have to be patient until the 81st minute for the security of a second goal. Dewsbury-Hall was the creator with a corner that Keane glanced past the goalkeeper. He did so with the back of his shoulder, and Fulham’s appeals for handball were rejected by VAR.

Fulham carried more of a threat following the substitutions of Josh King, Rodrigo Muniz and the winger. Pickford made a fine stop with his feet to deny Muniz scoring with his initial involvement and stopped Traoré with another important stop late on.