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The Everton manager had stressed before Fulham's visit that the onus for scoring goals should not rest only on the team's strikers. “I want more goals from my centre-halves and central players as well,” he insisted. The Senegalese midfielder and Michael Keane rose to the occasion, securing a well-earned victory over Marco Silva’s ineffective team.

Everton’s second win in nine matches was fairly straightforward as the visitors highlighted why their top marksman this season is opposition own goals. Apart from a brief flurry in the second half, the away side were kept quiet throughout by Everton’s greater urgency and technical ability. Moyes’ team had three goals ruled out for offside, but a close-range strike from Gueye in added time before the break and the defender's late conversion ensured there would be no comeback for the former Everton manager.

No player needed a goal as much as Thierno Barry, the Everton forward who had failed to register a shot on target in 10 league games without testing the goalkeeper after his big-money move from Villarreal and spurned a clear opportunity to put his team 2-0 up at the Stadium of Light on Monday. The youngster directed the earliest chance of the game wide of Bernd Leno’s crossbar when found by Iliman Ndiaye’s excellent delivery.

The home side dominated the early exchanges and the Fulham goalkeeper pushed over the midfielder's 30-yard free-kick, given after the Fulham player was yellow-carded for fouling Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall. The Serbian brought down the same player later in the half but the official, the man in charge, rightly ignored home protests for a sending off. The Fulham boss was not risking anything, however, and withdrew the player at the interval.

The striker thought his luck had changed at last when sliding in at the far post to convert a drilled pass by Gueye. But the joy of a maiden strike was wiped out by an assistant referee’s flag. Ndiaye was offside when going for the delivery, and missing, and the video assistant referee supported the on-field decision. Barry’s misfortune may have persisted in the final third, but his overall display justified Moyes’ decision to keep the faith. His runs and work-rate occupied the opposition's back line and helped give Everton the upper hand throughout.

Fulham came into the contest slowly with the Norwegian and the ex-Goodison player Alex Iwobi combining effectively in the engine room, but the early danger from the away team was minimal. The Mexican striker fired weakly at the England keeper when teed up inside the area by his teammate and put a free-kick from a dangerous position straight into the defensive barrier. And that was it.

The Blues, driven on by Dewsbury-Hall and Ndiaye, had a another strike chalked off for offside when Leno parried a Keane header and James Tarkowski fired home the rebound. The skipper had moved beyond the last defender when nodding down the winger's delivery in the buildup. But Everton’s third attempt past Leno did stand. The left-back floated a lovely cross to the back post when left unmarked on the left by Tim Iroegbunam. Tarkowski connected with a thumping header against the bar and, though Iroegbunam fluffed his lines, his teammate the scorer converted from point-blank. The sense of release inside the ground was palpable.

The home side had a third goal disallowed after the restart after the playmaker scored from another inviting delivery from the left. Ndiaye had laid off the ball into Barry, who was in an offside position when competing with the Fulham defender for the ball that reached the Everton midfielder. Everton would have to be patient until the 81st minute for the comfort of a two-goal lead. Dewsbury-Hall was the architect with a corner that Keane directed over the goalkeeper. He did so with the back of his shoulder, and Fulham’s appeals for a handball were dismissed by the video official.

Silva’s side posed more danger following the substitutions of the forward, Rodrigo Muniz and Adama Traoré. Pickford made a fine stop with his feet to deny Muniz scoring with his first touch and denied the speedster with another important stop in the dying moments.