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

The Merseyside club's second victory in nine outings was fairly straightforward as Fulham highlighted why their top marksman this season is opposition own goals. Aside from a short spell in the second half, the away side were subdued throughout by Everton’s greater urgency and technical ability. The Blues had three efforts ruled out for offside, but a close-range strike from the midfielder in first-half stoppage time and the defender's second-half header ensured there would be no comeback for the former Everton manager.

No player needed a goal more than the young striker, the Everton forward who had failed to register a shot on target in 10 league games 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 on Monday. The 23-year-old headed the first opportunity of the game over the Fulham keeper's goal frame when picked out by Iliman Ndiaye’s excellent delivery.

Everton controlled the opening stages and the Fulham goalkeeper tipped over the midfielder's long-range set-piece, given after Sasa Lukic was yellow-carded for fouling the Everton midfielder. Lukic tripped the identical opponent later in the half but the official, Andrew Madley, 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 luck had finally turned when sliding in at the back post to convert a low cross by his teammate. But the elation of a maiden strike was erased by an assistant referee’s flag. The attacker was offside when attacking the delivery, and failing to connect, and the VAR backed up the original call. The forward's bad luck may have persisted in front of goal, but his overall display validated the manager's choice to keep the faith. His runs and effort kept busy Fulham’s central defenders and helped give Everton the edge all game.

The Londoners grew into the game gradually with the Norwegian and the ex-Goodison player the Nigerian working well in midfield, but the early danger from the visitors was minimal. Raúl Jiménez shot tamely at the England keeper when set up inside the area by Iwobi and sent a set-piece from a promising location directly at the Everton wall. That summed up their attacking output.

Everton, driven on by Dewsbury-Hall and the forward, had a second goal chalked off for offside when Leno saved a Keane header and the captain fired home the rebound. The skipper had moved beyond the last defender when heading on the winger's delivery in the build-up. But Everton’s next effort past Leno did stand. The left-back delivered a perfect ball to the back post when found in space on the left by the youngster. The defender connected with a powerful nod against the bar and, though the midfielder mishit the rebound, his midfield partner Gueye finished from point-blank. The sense of release inside Hill Dickinson Stadium was evident.

The home side had a third goal disallowed after the restart after the playmaker scored from a further excellent Mykolenko cross. Ndiaye had laid off the delivery into the striker, who was in an offside position when competing with the Fulham defender for the touch that fell to the home player. Everton would have to be patient until the 81st minute for the comfort of a two-goal lead. Dewsbury-Hall was the creator with a corner that the defender directed past Leno. He scored with the back of his shoulder, and the visitors' protests for handball were dismissed by VAR.

Silva’s side carried more of a threat after the substitutions of the forward, the Brazilian and the winger. Pickford saved well with his feet to deny Muniz scoring with his initial involvement and stopped the speedster with another important stop late on.