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David Moyes had stressed before Fulham's visit that the responsibility for finding the back of the net should not fall solely on his side's strikers. “I expect more goals from my defenders and central players as well,” he declared. The Senegalese midfielder and the English defender responded perfectly, delivering a merited victory over Marco Silva’s toothless side.

The Merseyside club's second win in nine matches was fairly straightforward as Fulham demonstrated the reason their leading scorer this season is goals gifted by opponents. Aside 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 ruled out for infringements, but a close-range strike from the midfielder in added time before the break and Keane’s late conversion made sure there would be no comeback for their ex-coach.

No one was more in need of scoring as much as Thierno Barry, the Everton forward who had failed to register a shot on target in 10 league games without a shot on target 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 youngster directed the first opportunity of the game wide of Bernd Leno’s crossbar when found by Iliman Ndiaye’s fine cross.

Everton controlled the early exchanges and the visiting shot-stopper tipped over James Garner’s 30-yard free-kick, awarded after the Fulham player was booked for fouling Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall. The Serbian tripped the identical opponent again before halftime but the official, Andrew Madley, rightly ignored Everton appeals for a second yellow. The Fulham boss was taking no further chances, though, and withdrew the midfielder at the break.

The striker thought his luck had changed at last when arriving at the far post to convert a drilled pass by his teammate. But the joy of a first Everton goal was wiped out by an linesman's decision. Ndiaye was offside when attacking Gueye’s cross, and failing to connect, and the VAR backed up the on-field decision. Barry’s misfortune may have persisted in the final third, but his all-round performance validated Moyes’ decision to stick with him. His runs and effort kept busy Fulham’s central defenders and contributed to the hosts the edge all game.

Fulham grew into the game gradually with the Norwegian and the ex-Goodison player Alex Iwobi working well in midfield, but the first half threat from the visitors was limited. The Mexican striker fired weakly at the England keeper when teed up in the box by Iwobi and sent a set-piece from a promising location directly at the Everton wall. And that was it.

Everton, inspired by Dewsbury-Hall and the forward, had a another strike chalked off for offside when the Fulham goalkeeper parried a Keane header and James Tarkowski volleyed in the loose ball. The home captain had moved beyond the last defender when nodding down Jack Grealish’s cross in the build-up. But the team's next effort beating the keeper did stand. Vitalii Mykolenko floated a perfect ball to the back post when found in space on the left by Tim Iroegbunam. Tarkowski met it with a thumping header off the crossbar and, though the midfielder mishit the rebound, his midfield partner the scorer finished from point-blank. The relief inside the ground was evident.

Everton had a further effort ruled out early in the second half after Dewsbury-Hall found the bottom corner from another inviting delivery from the left. Ndiaye had laid off the delivery into Barry, who was in an offside position when challenging the Fulham defender for the touch that fell to the home player. Everton would have to wait until the closing stages for the security of a second goal. Dewsbury-Hall was the architect with a set-piece that the defender glanced over the goalkeeper. He scored with the upper body, and Fulham’s appeals for handball were dismissed by VAR.

Fulham posed more danger following the substitutions of Josh King, Rodrigo Muniz and the winger. Pickford saved well with his feet to prevent Muniz finding the net with his first touch and stopped the speedster with another important stop in the dying moments.