Arouna Kone grabbed a hat-trick as Everton piled on the Premier League relegation worries for Sam Allardyce's Sunderland with a 6-2 demolition job at Goodison Park on Sunday.
In the day's other match, Ronald Koeman's Southampton climbed to seventh in the table after first-half goals from Steven Davis and Graziano Pelle secured a 2-0 home win over south-coast rivals Bournemouth.
Everton were 2-0 up inside 31 minutes against Sunderland thanks to Kone and Spanish forward Gerard Deulofeu.
Kone sent a looping ball over the defence for Deulofeu to score the opener and the Ivory Coast international added a second goal following a one-two with strike partner Romelu Lukaku on the edge of the box.
Jermain Defoe inspired a Sunderland rally, volleying their first goal in stoppage time before playing a part in Steven Fletcher's headed equaliser five minutes after the break.
The visitors, however, were always vulnerable to the counter attack and Everton made it 3-2 when Sebastian Coates prodded a right-wing cross from Deulofeu into his own net.
Deulofeu also set up the fourth for Lukaku. Another Everton counter-attack led to Kone planting the ball into the net with his left foot in the 62nd minute before the Ivorian completed the rout with a close-range header. Everton's victory lifted them to ninth with 16 points from 11 games.
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