David Moyes had made clear before the match against Fulham that the onus for finding the back of the net must not fall solely on the team's strikers. “I demand more goals from my defenders and central players as well,” he insisted. The Senegalese midfielder and the English defender duly obliged, delivering a merited victory over Marco Silva’s toothless team.
The Merseyside club's second victory in nine outings was fairly straightforward as the visitors showed why their top marksman this season is goals gifted by opponents. Apart from a short spell in the latter period, the away side were subdued 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 first-half stoppage time and the defender's second-half header made sure there would be no reprieve for their ex-coach.
No one needed a goal as much as Thierno Barry, the Everton attacker who had gone 10 Premier League outings without a shot on target after his big-money move from the Spanish side and spurned a gilt-edged chance to put his team two goals ahead at the Stadium of Light on Monday. The youngster directed the earliest chance of the game wide of the Fulham keeper's goal frame when picked out by his teammate's fine cross.
Everton dominated the early exchanges and the visiting shot-stopper tipped over the midfielder's long-range set-piece, given after Sasa Lukic was booked for hauling down Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall. Lukic brought down the same player again before halftime but the official, the man in charge, rightly ignored home protests for a sending off. Silva was taking no further chances, however, and withdrew the player at the interval.
Barry believed his fortune had changed at last when arriving at the back post to convert a low cross by his teammate. But the joy of a first Everton goal was wiped out by an assistant referee’s flag. The attacker was in an illegal position when going for Gueye’s cross, and missing, and the video assistant referee backed up the on-field decision. 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 movement and work-rate kept busy the opposition's back line and helped give the hosts the upper hand throughout.
The Londoners came into the contest gradually with the Norwegian and the ex-Goodison player the Nigerian combining effectively in the engine room, but the first half threat from the away team was limited. Raúl Jiménez shot tamely at the England keeper when teed up in the box by his teammate and put a set-piece from a dangerous position directly at the defensive barrier. That summed up their attacking output.
Everton, inspired by Dewsbury-Hall and the forward, had a another strike chalked off for offside when the Fulham goalkeeper saved a Keane header and the captain volleyed in the loose ball. The skipper had moved beyond the last defender when heading on the winger's cross in the build-up. But the team's next effort past Leno did stand. The left-back delivered a lovely cross to the far post when found in space on the left by Tim Iroegbunam. The defender met it with a thumping header against the bar and, though Iroegbunam fluffed his lines, his midfield partner the scorer converted from close range. The relief inside the ground was palpable.
Everton had a further effort ruled out after the restart after Dewsbury-Hall scored from a further excellent delivery from the left. The attacker had cushioned the ball into the striker, who was in an offside position when challenging Joachim Anderson for the ball that fell to the Everton midfielder. Everton would have to be patient until the 81st minute for the comfort of a second goal. Dewsbury-Hall was the architect with a corner that Keane glanced over the goalkeeper. He scored with the back of his shoulder, and Fulham’s appeals for handball were dismissed by the video official.
Fulham posed more danger following the substitutions of Josh King, Rodrigo Muniz and Adama Traoré. Pickford saved well with his feet to deny Muniz finding the net with his first touch and denied the speedster with a crucial save in the dying moments.
