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The Everton manager had made clear before the match against Fulham that the onus for scoring goals should not rest only on the team's strikers. “I want more goals from my defenders and midfielders as well,” he declared. The Senegalese midfielder and the English defender duly obliged, securing a fully deserved victory over the opposition's toothless side.

The Merseyside club's second victory in nine outings was relatively comfortable as the visitors demonstrated 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 throughout by the home team's greater urgency and technical ability. The Blues had three goals disallowed for offside, but a poacher’s finish from Gueye in added time before the break and Keane’s late conversion ensured there would be no comeback for their ex-coach.

No one was more in need of scoring as much as Thierno Barry, the Goodison Park attacker who had gone 10 Premier League outings without testing the goalkeeper after his £27m summer arrival from the Spanish side and missed a gilt-edged chance to put his team 2-0 up at the Stadium of Light on Monday. The 23-year-old directed the first opportunity of the game over the Fulham keeper's crossbar when picked out by Iliman Ndiaye’s excellent delivery.

Everton controlled the opening stages and the visiting shot-stopper pushed over James Garner’s long-range set-piece, awarded after Sasa Lukic was booked for fouling Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall. The Serbian tripped the identical opponent later in the half but the referee, the man in charge, correctly waved away home protests for a second yellow. Silva was taking no further chances, however, and substituted the player at the interval.

The striker believed his luck had finally turned when sliding in at the far post to turn in a drilled pass by Gueye. But the elation of a maiden strike was erased by an assistant referee’s flag. Ndiaye was offside when attacking Gueye’s cross, and missing, and the VAR backed up the original call. The forward's bad luck may have continued in front of goal, but his all-round performance justified the manager's choice to keep the faith. His runs and effort kept busy the opposition's back line and helped give the hosts the upper hand throughout.

The Londoners came into the contest slowly with the Norwegian and the former Everton midfielder the Nigerian combining effectively in midfield, but the first half threat from the away team was limited. Raúl Jiménez fired weakly at the England keeper when teed up inside the area by Iwobi and sent a set-piece from a promising location straight into the Everton wall. That summed up their attacking output.

The Blues, inspired by the midfielder and Ndiaye, had a another strike disallowed for an infringement when the Fulham goalkeeper saved a effort from Keane and James Tarkowski fired home the rebound. The home captain had just strayed offside when heading on Jack Grealish’s cross in the build-up. But the team's next effort beating Leno did stand. The left-back floated a lovely cross to the far post when left unmarked on the left flank by Tim Iroegbunam. The defender met it with a thumping header off the crossbar and, though Iroegbunam mishit the rebound, his teammate Gueye finished from point-blank. The relief inside the ground was palpable.

Everton had a third goal ruled out after the restart 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 fell to the home player. Everton would have to be patient until the 81st minute for the security of a second goal. The provider was the creator with a corner that Keane glanced past the goalkeeper. He scored with the upper body, and the visitors' protests for handball were dismissed by the video official.

Silva’s side carried more of a threat following the introductions of the forward, Rodrigo Muniz and the winger. The Everton keeper made a fine stop with his legs to prevent Muniz finding the net with his initial involvement and denied Traoré with a crucial save in the dying moments.