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The Everton manager had emphasized before Fulham's visit that the onus for scoring goals must not rest only on the team's strikers. “I want more goals from my centre-halves and central players as well,” he stated. Idrissa Gueye and Michael Keane duly obliged, delivering a merited victory over Marco Silva’s ineffective side.

The Merseyside club's second victory in nine matches was relatively comfortable as the visitors demonstrated the reason their leading scorer this season is goals gifted by opponents. Apart from a short spell in the latter period, the away side were subdued all match by the home team's greater urgency and technical ability. Moyes’ team had three efforts disallowed for offside, but a close-range strike from the midfielder in first-half stoppage time and Keane’s second-half header ensured there would be no reprieve for the former Everton manager.

No player needed a goal more than Thierno Barry, the Everton forward who had gone 10 Premier League outings without testing the goalkeeper after his £27m summer arrival from the Spanish side and spurned a clear opportunity to put his team two goals ahead at the Stadium of Light earlier in the week. The 23-year-old headed the first opportunity of the game over Bernd Leno’s crossbar when found by Iliman Ndiaye’s excellent delivery.

Everton dominated the early exchanges and the visiting shot-stopper tipped over the midfielder's long-range set-piece, awarded after the Fulham player was yellow-carded for hauling down Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall. The Serbian tripped the identical opponent again before halftime but the official, Andrew Madley, rightly ignored home protests for a sending off. Silva was not risking anything, however, and substituted the player at the break.

The striker believed his luck had changed at last when arriving at the far post to convert a drilled pass by Gueye. But the joy of a first Everton goal was erased by an assistant referee’s flag. The attacker was offside when attacking Gueye’s cross, and missing, and the VAR backed up the original call. Barry’s misfortune may have continued in front of goal, but his overall display validated Moyes’ decision to keep the faith. His runs and effort occupied the opposition's back line and contributed to the hosts the upper hand throughout.

Fulham grew into the game slowly with the Norwegian 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 inside the area by Iwobi and sent a free-kick from a promising location straight into the defensive barrier. And that was it.

Everton, inspired by Dewsbury-Hall and Ndiaye, had a second goal disallowed for an infringement when Leno parried a Keane header and the captain fired home the loose ball. The skipper had just strayed offside when heading on Jack Grealish’s cross in the buildup. But Everton’s third attempt beating Leno did stand. Vitalii Mykolenko floated a perfect ball to the back post when left unmarked on the left by Tim Iroegbunam. The defender met it with a thumping header off the crossbar and, though the midfielder mishit the rebound, his teammate the scorer converted from close range. The relief inside the ground was palpable.

Everton had a third goal disallowed after the restart after Dewsbury-Hall scored from a further excellent delivery from the left. The attacker had cushioned the delivery into the striker, who was in an offside position when challenging the Fulham defender for the touch that reached the Everton midfielder. The team would have to be patient until the closing stages for the security of a second goal. Dewsbury-Hall was the creator with a corner that the defender glanced past Leno. He did so with the upper body, and Fulham’s appeals for handball were rejected by VAR.

Silva’s side posed more danger following the substitutions of Josh King, the Brazilian and the winger. The Everton keeper made a fine stop with his legs to deny Muniz scoring with his first touch and stopped Traoré with another important stop late on.