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The Everton manager 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 expect more goals from my defenders and midfielders as well,” he insisted. Idrissa Gueye and the English defender rose to the occasion, earning a fully deserved victory over the opposition's toothless side.

Everton’s second win in nine outings was relatively comfortable as Fulham highlighted the reason their leading scorer this season is opposition own goals. Apart from a brief flurry in the latter period, the away side were contained all match by the home team's greater urgency and technical ability. Moyes’ team had three efforts disallowed for offside, but a poacher’s finish from the midfielder in added time before the break and Keane’s late conversion made sure there would be no reprieve for the former Everton manager.

No player needed a goal as much as the young striker, the Goodison Park forward who had gone 10 Premier League outings without testing the goalkeeper after his £27m summer arrival from Villarreal and spurned a gilt-edged chance to put his team 2-0 up at Sunderland on Monday. The 23-year-old directed the first opportunity of the game over Bernd Leno’s crossbar when picked out by his teammate's excellent delivery.

Everton dominated the opening stages and the Fulham goalkeeper pushed over the midfielder's long-range set-piece, given after Sasa Lukic was booked for fouling Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall. Lukic brought down the identical opponent again before halftime but the official, Andrew Madley, correctly waved away Everton appeals for a sending off. The Fulham boss was taking no further chances, though, and substituted the player at the interval.

Barry believed his fortune had finally turned when arriving at the back post to turn in a drilled pass by Gueye. But the joy of a maiden strike was erased by an assistant referee’s flag. The attacker was in an illegal position when going for the delivery, and missing, and the video assistant referee backed up the original call. Barry’s misfortune may have persisted in the final third, but his overall display validated Moyes’ decision to stick with him. His movement and effort occupied the opposition's back line and helped give the hosts the edge all game.

The Londoners came into the contest slowly with the Norwegian and the former Everton midfielder Alex Iwobi working well in the engine room, but the early danger from the visitors was limited. The Mexican striker shot tamely at the England keeper when set up in the box by Iwobi and sent a set-piece from a promising location straight into the Everton wall. And that was it.

Everton, inspired by the midfielder and the forward, had a second goal chalked off for an infringement when the Fulham goalkeeper saved a effort from Keane and James Tarkowski fired home the rebound. The skipper had just strayed beyond the last defender when heading on Jack Grealish’s cross in the buildup. But the team's third attempt beating the keeper did stand. The left-back floated a perfect ball to the far post when left unmarked on the left flank by the youngster. Tarkowski met it with a powerful nod against the bar and, though Iroegbunam fluffed his lines, his teammate the scorer finished from point-blank. The sense of release inside the ground was evident.

The home side had a third goal disallowed after the restart after the playmaker found the bottom corner from a further excellent delivery from the left. The attacker had laid off the ball into Barry, who was offside when competing with Joachim Anderson for the ball that reached the Everton midfielder. The team would have to wait until the 81st minute for the security of a second goal. Dewsbury-Hall was the creator with a corner that the defender glanced past the goalkeeper. He scored with the upper body, and Fulham’s appeals for handball were rejected by VAR.

Fulham posed more danger after the introductions of Josh King, Rodrigo Muniz and Adama Traoré. Pickford made a fine stop with his legs to deny the substitute scoring with his initial involvement and denied Traoré with a crucial save in the dying moments.