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The Everton manager had stressed before Fulham's visit that the responsibility for scoring goals should not rest only on his side's strikers. “I expect more goals from my centre-halves and central players as well,” he declared. The Senegalese midfielder and the English defender duly obliged, delivering a merited victory over Marco Silva’s toothless side.

Everton’s second win in nine matches was largely untroubled as the visitors highlighted the reason their leading scorer this season is opposition own goals. Apart from a brief flurry in the second half, the visitors were kept quiet throughout by the home team's greater urgency and quality. The Blues had three goals ruled out for infringements, but a poacher’s finish from the midfielder in added time before the break and Keane’s second-half header ensured there would be no reprieve for their ex-coach.

No one needed a goal more than the young striker, the Everton attacker 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 on Monday. The 23-year-old headed the earliest chance of the game over the Fulham keeper's goal frame when picked out by his teammate's excellent delivery.

The home side dominated the early exchanges and the Fulham goalkeeper pushed over the midfielder's 30-yard free-kick, awarded after the Fulham player was booked for fouling the Everton midfielder. The Serbian tripped the identical opponent later in the half but the official, the man in charge, rightly ignored home protests for a second yellow. The Fulham boss was not risking anything, however, and withdrew the player at the break.

Barry thought his luck had changed at last when sliding in at the back post to convert a drilled pass by Gueye. But the elation of a first Everton goal was erased by an assistant referee’s flag. Ndiaye was offside when going for Gueye’s cross, and missing, and the VAR backed up the original call. Barry’s misfortune may have persisted in the final third, but his overall display validated the manager's choice to stick with him. His runs and work-rate kept busy the opposition's back line and helped give Everton the edge throughout.

Fulham came into the contest slowly with the Norwegian and the ex-Goodison player the Nigerian combining effectively in midfield, but the first half threat from the away team was limited. The Mexican striker fired weakly at Jordon Pickford when teed up inside the area by his teammate and put a free-kick from a promising location straight into the Everton wall. That summed up their attacking output.

The Blues, driven on by the midfielder and the forward, had a another strike disallowed for an infringement when Leno saved a Keane header and the captain volleyed in the loose ball. The home captain had moved beyond the last defender when nodding down the winger's delivery in the build-up. But Everton’s third attempt past the keeper counted. Vitalii Mykolenko floated a lovely cross to the back post when left unmarked on the left flank by the youngster. Tarkowski met it with a thumping header off the crossbar and, though the midfielder fluffed his lines, his teammate the scorer finished from point-blank. The sense of release inside Hill Dickinson Stadium was evident.

Everton had a third goal ruled out after the restart after the playmaker scored from another inviting Mykolenko cross. The attacker had laid off the delivery into the striker, who was offside when competing with the Fulham defender for the touch that fell to the home player. The team would have to be patient until the closing stages for the comfort of a two-goal lead. The provider was the creator with a corner that Keane glanced over Leno. He scored with the back of his shoulder, and Fulham’s appeals for a handball were rejected by the video official.

Fulham carried more of a threat following the substitutions of the forward, Rodrigo Muniz and the winger. Pickford made a fine stop with his feet to deny Muniz scoring with his first touch and stopped Traoré with another important stop in the dying moments.