Everton have secured their first win in four Premier League matches by thrashing Sunderland 6-2 at Goodison Park.
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The visitors came close to opening the scoring inside the first five minutes when Patrick van Aanholt collected a through-ball from Steven Fletcher, but his shot came back off the foot of the post.
The woodwork kept the scores level again soon after as Jermain Defoe forced Tim Howard to parry the ball into the path of Adam Johnson, but the midfielder was also denied by the post.
Despite Sunderland's bright start, it was Everton who opened the scoring when Gerard Deulofeu beat an offside trap to leave him with only Costel Pantilimon to beat, allowing him to slice the ball into the far corner.
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The Toffees doubled their lead just after the half-hour mark, as Romelu Lukaku squared the ball to Arouna Kone, setting up the striker to rifle the ball into the top of the net from just outside the box.
Despite Everton continuing to look the more likely as half time approached, the visitors got themselves back into the game just before the interval as Defoe controlled a long ball forward to leave himself one-on-one with Howard, chipping the keeper to cut the gap.
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It did not take the visitors long to get back on level terms after the restart, with Van Aanholt teeing the ball up for Fletcher to head into the bottom corner.
The Black Cats could have been ahead a couple of minutes later as Defoe slid the ball through to Johnson, but his attempt to square the ball to Fletcher failed to find its target.
Everton retook the lead shortly after as Deulofeu tried to pick out Lukaku with a cross, but Sebastian Coates got to it first, turning it into his own net while trying to prevent the striker getting his shot away.
Lukaku did get on the scoresheet on the hour mark with another Deulofeu ball finding the Belgian international, leaving the striker to round the keeper and slot into an empty net.
Roberto Martinez's side extended their lead further just two minutes later, exploiting the struggling Sunderland defence on the counter-attack, as James McCarthy provided a through-ball to give Kone his second goal of the afternoon.
The hosts continued to threaten as Kevin Mirallas came off the bench, and he came close to having an immediate impact when he rounded Pantilimon, only to find the visitors with numbers back to block his finish.
Everton did add a sixth inside the final 15 minutes though as Lukaku found space out wide to cross in for Kone, who guided it past Pantilimon with a header to complete his hat-trick.
The hosts continued to dominate possession as the match headed into the final 10 minutes, with Mirallas coming close to adding a seventh Everton goal inside the last two minutes, but his rifled finish was just wide.
Duncan Watmore provided some late hope of a consolation for the visitors, but he fired his best chance straight at Howard.
The result lifts Everton up to eighth in the table, while Sunderland remain in the relegation zone, two points from safety.
Sian Cowper
