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David Moyes had stressed before Fulham's visit that the onus for finding the back of the net must not fall solely on his side's forwards. “I demand more goals from my centre-halves and central players as well,” he declared. The Senegalese midfielder and the English defender duly obliged, delivering a well-earned victory over Marco Silva’s toothless team.

The Merseyside club's second victory in nine outings was largely untroubled as the visitors demonstrated the reason their top marksman this season is opposition own goals. Aside from a brief flurry in the second half, the away side were kept quiet throughout by the home team's greater urgency and technical ability. The Blues had three efforts ruled out for offside, but a poacher’s finish from Gueye in first-half stoppage time and Keane’s second-half header ensured there would be no comeback for their ex-coach.

No player was more in need of scoring more than the young striker, the Goodison Park attacker who had gone 10 Premier League outings without a shot on target after his big-money move from Villarreal and missed a clear opportunity to put his team two goals ahead at the Stadium of Light earlier in the week. The 23-year-old directed the earliest chance of the game over Bernd Leno’s goal frame when picked out by his teammate's excellent delivery.

The home side controlled the early exchanges and the visiting shot-stopper pushed over James Garner’s 30-yard free-kick, given after the Fulham player was yellow-carded for fouling the Everton midfielder. Lukic brought down the same player later in the half but the referee, the man in charge, rightly ignored home protests for a second yellow. The Fulham boss was taking no further chances, though, and substituted the midfielder at the break.

The striker believed his fortune had changed at last when sliding in at the far post to convert a drilled pass by his teammate. But the elation of a first Everton goal was erased by an linesman's decision. The attacker was in an illegal position when attacking Gueye’s cross, and missing, and the video assistant referee supported the on-field decision. The forward's bad luck may have continued in the final third, but his all-round performance justified Moyes’ decision to keep the faith. His runs and effort kept busy Fulham’s central defenders and contributed to the hosts the upper hand throughout.

The Londoners grew into the game slowly with Sander Berge and the former Everton midfielder Alex Iwobi combining effectively in the engine room, but the early danger from the visitors was limited. Raúl Jiménez shot tamely at Jordon Pickford when teed up in the box by Iwobi and put a free-kick from a dangerous position directly at the defensive barrier. And that was it.

The Blues, inspired by Dewsbury-Hall and the forward, had a another strike disallowed for an infringement when Leno parried a effort from Keane and James Tarkowski fired home the rebound. The skipper had moved beyond the last defender when heading on Jack Grealish’s cross in the build-up. But Everton’s third attempt beating Leno counted. The left-back delivered a lovely cross to the far post when left unmarked on the left by the youngster. The defender met it with a thumping header off the crossbar and, though the midfielder fluffed his lines, his teammate Gueye finished from point-blank. The sense of release inside Hill Dickinson Stadium was evident.

The home side had a further effort ruled out early in the second half after the playmaker found the bottom corner from another inviting delivery from the left. The attacker had laid off the delivery into the striker, who was in an offside position when challenging Joachim Anderson for the touch that reached the home player. The team would have to wait until the closing stages for the security of a two-goal lead. The provider was the architect with a set-piece 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 introductions of Josh King, Rodrigo Muniz and the winger. The Everton keeper saved well with his feet to prevent the substitute finding the net with his first touch and denied Traoré with another important stop in the dying moments.