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David Moyes had emphasized before the match against Fulham that the responsibility 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 stated. Idrissa Gueye and Michael Keane duly obliged, delivering a well-earned victory over the opposition's toothless side.

The Merseyside club's second victory in nine matches was largely untroubled as the visitors showed the reason their leading scorer this season is opposition own goals. Aside from a brief flurry in the latter period, the visitors were kept quiet all match by the home team's greater urgency and technical ability. Moyes’ team had three goals disallowed for offside, but a close-range strike from Gueye in first-half stoppage time and Keane’s second-half header made sure there would be no reprieve for the former Everton manager.

No one was more in need of scoring more than the young striker, the Everton attacker who had gone 10 Premier League outings without testing the goalkeeper after his big-money move from Villarreal and spurned a clear opportunity to put his team two goals ahead at the Stadium of Light on Monday. The youngster directed the first opportunity of the game wide of Bernd Leno’s goal frame when found by Iliman Ndiaye’s excellent delivery.

Everton dominated the opening stages and the Fulham goalkeeper pushed over James Garner’s 30-yard free-kick, awarded after the Fulham player was yellow-carded for hauling down the Everton midfielder. The Serbian brought down 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, however, and substituted the midfielder at the interval.

Barry believed his luck had changed at last when sliding in at the far post to turn in a drilled pass by his teammate. But the elation of a maiden strike was wiped out by an linesman's decision. Ndiaye was offside when going for the delivery, and missing, and the VAR backed up the on-field decision. The forward's bad luck may have continued in front of goal, but his overall display validated the manager's choice to stick with him. His runs and effort kept busy Fulham’s central defenders and helped give the hosts the edge all game.

Fulham came into the contest slowly with Sander Berge and the ex-Goodison player the Nigerian combining effectively in midfield, but the early danger from the visitors was minimal. The Mexican striker shot tamely at the England keeper when set up inside the area by Iwobi and sent a free-kick from a promising location directly at the Everton wall. And that was it.

Everton, driven on by Dewsbury-Hall and the forward, had a second goal chalked off for an infringement when Leno parried a Keane header and the captain volleyed in the loose ball. The home captain had just strayed offside when heading on Jack Grealish’s delivery in the buildup. But Everton’s third attempt past Leno did stand. The left-back delivered a perfect ball to the back post when found in space on the left flank by Tim Iroegbunam. Tarkowski met it with a thumping header against the bar and, though the midfielder mishit the rebound, his teammate the scorer finished from point-blank. The relief inside the ground was palpable.

Everton had a further effort ruled out after the restart after the playmaker found the bottom corner from a further excellent Mykolenko cross. The attacker had cushioned the delivery into the striker, who was offside when challenging 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 second goal. The provider was the architect with a corner that Keane glanced past the goalkeeper. He scored with the upper body, and the visitors' protests for handball were dismissed by VAR.

Fulham carried more of a threat after the introductions of Josh King, Rodrigo Muniz and the winger. The Everton keeper saved well with his feet to prevent Muniz scoring with his initial involvement and denied the speedster with another important stop in the dying moments.