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The Everton manager had stressed before the match against Fulham that the onus for finding the back of the net should not rest only on his side's forwards. “I expect more goals from my centre-halves and midfielders as well,” he insisted. The Senegalese midfielder and the English defender rose to the occasion, securing a fully deserved victory over Marco Silva’s ineffective side.

The Merseyside club's second victory in nine outings was largely untroubled as the visitors highlighted the reason their top marksman this season is opposition own goals. Aside from a brief flurry in the second half, the away side were kept quiet throughout by Everton’s superior intensity and quality. Moyes’ team had three efforts ruled out 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 the former Everton manager.

No one was more in need of scoring as much as the young striker, the Everton attacker who had failed to register a shot on target in 10 league games without a shot on target after his £27m summer arrival from Villarreal and missed a clear opportunity to put his team 2-0 up at Sunderland earlier in the week. 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 dominated the early exchanges and the visiting shot-stopper pushed over James Garner’s long-range set-piece, given after the Fulham player was booked for fouling Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall. Lukic brought down the identical opponent later in the half but the referee, the man in charge, 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 turn in a low cross by Gueye. But the joy of a maiden strike was wiped out by an linesman's decision. Ndiaye was offside when attacking Gueye’s cross, and missing, and the video assistant referee supported the original call. The forward's bad luck may have persisted in the final third, but his all-round performance validated Moyes’ decision to keep the faith. His runs and effort kept busy Fulham’s central defenders and contributed to the hosts the edge throughout.

The Londoners came into the contest slowly with Sander Berge and the former Everton midfielder the Nigerian working well in the engine room, but the early danger from the visitors was limited. Raúl Jiménez shot tamely at Jordon Pickford when set up inside the area by his teammate and put a free-kick from a promising location straight into the defensive barrier. And that was it.

The Blues, inspired by the midfielder and Ndiaye, had a second goal chalked off for offside when Leno saved a effort from Keane and James Tarkowski fired home the loose ball. The home captain had moved beyond the last defender when heading on Jack Grealish’s cross in the build-up. But the team's third attempt past Leno counted. Vitalii Mykolenko floated a lovely cross to the far post when found in space on the left flank by Tim Iroegbunam. The defender connected with a powerful nod against the bar and, though Iroegbunam fluffed his lines, his teammate the scorer finished from close range. The sense of release inside the ground was palpable.

The home side had a further effort ruled out early in the second half after the playmaker scored from another inviting delivery from the left. Ndiaye had laid off the ball into the striker, who was offside when challenging the Fulham defender for the touch that fell to the Everton midfielder. Everton would have to wait until the 81st minute for the security of a second goal. The provider was the creator with a set-piece that Keane glanced past Leno. He scored with the upper body, and the visitors' protests for handball were dismissed by the video official.

Fulham carried more of a threat after the substitutions of Josh King, Rodrigo Muniz and Adama Traoré. Pickford made a fine stop with his legs to prevent the substitute scoring with his initial involvement and denied Traoré with another important stop in the dying moments.