Enner Valencia, Leighton Baines and Romelu Lukaku scored inside the final 16 minutes of the game to give Everton a 3-0 win over Southampton at Goodison Park on Monday afternoon.
Ronald Koeman had an opportunity to respond to November's 1-0 defeat to his former club, and he did so thanks to a late flurry of action from the hosts.
Both sides suffered a blow in the early stages of the game when Cedric was forced off for Southampton with a gash to the head after crashing into an advertising hoarding, while Everton youngster Dominic Calvert-Lewin went off with an ankle problem.
The 19-year-old was making his first senior start for the Toffees, but he lasted just 12 minutes after hurting himself during a coming-together with Saints defender Jose Fonte.
The enforced changes affected the flow of the game as neither side managed to pose much of a threat during the opening 45 minutes on Merseyside.
Ross Barkley had half a chance early on when he collected the ball on the edge of the box from Romelu Lukaku, but his half-volley was comfortably saved by Fraser Forster.
Goalscoring opportunities were few and far between, but the ones that came along were wasted as Nathan Redmond's header off Jordy Clasie's cross glanced wide, while Lukaku had a shot stopped by Forster's legs.
The visitors found the back of the net in the 27th minute through Jay Rodriguez, but the forward handled the ball after meeting James Ward-Prowse's cross and it was disallowed by referee Kevin Friend.
The best chance of the first half fell to Rodriguez when he stormed past Tom Davies and Ashley Williams before striking from the edge of the area, but his attempt sailed over the crossbar.
Much like the first half, it was a slow start to the second, with attacking moves from both sides breaking down in the middle of the park. Everton had plenty of possession but did little with it as Southampton defended comfortably.
The same could be said vice versa as one move from the Saints ended with Redmond swinging the ball into the side-netting.
Lukaku managed to break away from his marker, but instead of using Enner Valencia as an option, the Belgian went it alone and ended up dragging a shot across goal wide.
Redmond came close to nudging Southampton ahead when he latched on to a ball played over the top from Rodriguez, but his attempt was saved by the keeper.
The breakthrough was eventually made with 16 minutes of normal time remaining, and it was substitute Valencia who made the difference as he drilled in a low shot from four yards out after Lukaku had an attempt saved minutes before.
Baines slotted the ball home from the penalty spot after Valencia was fouled by Maya Yoshida, and Lukaku rounded off the win in the 87th minute.
Everton remain seventh in the table on 30 points, while Southampton sit ninth on 24 after 20 games.
Danielle Joynson
