🔗 Share this article

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

The Merseyside club's second win in nine matches was largely untroubled as Fulham highlighted the reason their leading scorer this season is goals gifted by opponents. Apart from a brief flurry in the second half, the visitors were kept quiet throughout by Everton’s superior intensity and quality. 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 needed a goal more than Thierno Barry, the Everton forward who had failed to register a shot on target in 10 league games without testing the goalkeeper after his £27m summer arrival from Villarreal and missed a gilt-edged chance to put his team 2-0 up at the Stadium of Light earlier in the week. The 23-year-old directed the earliest chance of the game wide of Bernd Leno’s goal frame when picked out by Iliman Ndiaye’s fine cross.

Everton controlled the early exchanges and the visiting shot-stopper tipped over James Garner’s long-range set-piece, given after Sasa Lukic was booked for fouling the Everton midfielder. Lukic brought down the identical opponent again before halftime but the official, Andrew Madley, rightly ignored home protests for a sending off. The Fulham boss was not risking anything, however, and substituted the midfielder at the break.

Barry thought his fortune had finally turned when sliding in at the back post to turn in a drilled pass by Gueye. But the elation of a maiden strike was wiped out by an linesman's decision. The attacker was offside when going for the delivery, and missing, and the video assistant referee backed up the original call. The forward's bad luck may have persisted in the final third, but his all-round performance justified the manager's choice to keep the faith. His runs and effort occupied the opposition's back line and contributed to Everton the upper hand all game.

Fulham grew into the game slowly with Sander Berge and the ex-Goodison player Alex Iwobi working well in midfield, but the first half threat from the away team was minimal. Raúl Jiménez fired weakly at the England keeper when set up inside the area by his teammate and put a set-piece from a dangerous position directly at the defensive barrier. And that was it.

Everton, driven on by the midfielder and the forward, had a another strike chalked off for an infringement when the Fulham goalkeeper parried a Keane header and the captain fired home the rebound. The skipper had just strayed beyond the last defender when heading on the winger's cross in the build-up. But Everton’s third attempt past Leno counted. Vitalii Mykolenko delivered a lovely cross to the back post when left unmarked on the left by Tim Iroegbunam. Tarkowski met it with a powerful nod against the bar and, though the midfielder fluffed his lines, his teammate the scorer converted from point-blank. The relief inside the ground was evident.

Everton had a third goal disallowed after the restart after Dewsbury-Hall scored from another inviting Mykolenko cross. Ndiaye had cushioned the ball into Barry, who was in an offside position when challenging the Fulham defender for the touch that reached the Everton midfielder. Everton would have to wait until the closing stages for the comfort of a second goal. The provider was the creator with a set-piece that Keane directed past the goalkeeper. He did so with the back of his shoulder, and Fulham’s appeals for handball were dismissed by VAR.

Silva’s side carried more of a threat after the substitutions of the forward, the Brazilian and Adama Traoré. The Everton keeper saved well with his feet to deny the substitute scoring with his initial involvement and stopped Traoré with a crucial save in the dying moments.