Gueye and Keane on target as Everton defeat Fulham

David Moyes had made clear before Fulham's visit that the onus for finding the back of the net should not rest only on his side's strikers. “I expect more goals from my defenders and central players as well,” he stated. The Senegalese midfielder and Michael Keane rose to the occasion, securing a well-earned victory over Marco Silva’s toothless side.

The Merseyside club's second win in nine matches was fairly straightforward as Fulham demonstrated why their leading scorer this season is opposition own goals. Apart from a brief flurry in the second half, the away side were subdued all match by the home team's greater urgency and technical ability. Moyes’ team had three efforts ruled out for offside, but a close-range strike from the midfielder in added time before the break and the defender's late conversion ensured there would be no comeback for the former Everton manager.

No one was more in need of scoring as much as Thierno Barry, the Goodison Park attacker 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 spurned a gilt-edged chance to put his team 2-0 up at Sunderland earlier in the week. The youngster headed the first opportunity of the game over Bernd Leno’s goal frame when picked out by Iliman Ndiaye’s fine cross.

The home side controlled the opening stages and the Fulham goalkeeper tipped over the midfielder's long-range set-piece, awarded after the Fulham player was yellow-carded for fouling Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall. Lukic brought down the identical opponent later in the half but the referee, 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 interval.

The striker believed his luck had finally turned when arriving at the far post to turn in a low cross by his teammate. But the elation of a maiden strike was wiped out by an linesman's decision. Ndiaye was in an illegal position when going for the delivery, and failing to connect, and the video assistant referee backed up the original call. The forward's bad luck may have persisted in the final third, but his overall display justified Moyes’ decision to stick with him. His runs and effort occupied the opposition's back line and contributed to the hosts the edge all game.

The Londoners grew into the game gradually with Sander Berge and the former Everton midfielder the Nigerian working well in the engine room, but the early danger from the visitors was minimal. Raúl Jiménez fired weakly at Jordon Pickford when set up inside the area by Iwobi and sent a free-kick from a promising location directly at the Everton wall. That summed up their attacking output.

Everton, inspired by the midfielder and Ndiaye, had a another strike disallowed for offside when the Fulham goalkeeper parried a effort from Keane and the captain fired home the loose ball. The skipper had moved offside when heading on Jack Grealish’s cross in the build-up. But Everton’s next effort beating Leno did stand. The left-back delivered a perfect ball to the far post when found in space on the left by the youngster. The defender met it with a thumping header against the bar and, though Iroegbunam fluffed his lines, his midfield partner Gueye converted from point-blank. The sense of release inside the ground was palpable.

The home side had a third goal disallowed after the restart after Dewsbury-Hall scored from a further excellent delivery from the left. The attacker had laid off the delivery into the striker, who was in an offside position when competing with Joachim Anderson for the touch that reached the home player. The team would have to wait until the closing stages for the comfort of a second goal. Dewsbury-Hall was the creator with a corner that Keane directed past the goalkeeper. He did so with the upper body, and the visitors' protests for a handball were dismissed by the video official.

Fulham carried more of a threat after the introductions of the forward, Rodrigo Muniz and Adama Traoré. The Everton keeper saved well with his legs to prevent the substitute scoring with his first touch and denied the speedster with a crucial save in the dying moments.