Everton pulled six points clear of the Premier League's relegation zone with a 3-0 win over Newcastle United this afternoon.
Roberto Martinez's side, who had drawn their last four games at home in the league, got off to a shaky start and were almost behind inside three minutes as Yoan Gouffran and Mike Williamson both went close.
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At the other end Tim Krul twice denied Romelu Lukaku in an action-packed start and soon Everton were in front.
They broke the deadlock in the 20th minute when James McCarthy collected Lukaku's layoff and fizzed in a low shot from the edge of the area that wrong-footed Krul and snuck in.
Newcastle began to claw their way back into the match, but they were doing very little to test Tim Howard in the Everton goal.
Shortly after half time they almost equalised when Ryan Taylor's free kick narrowly went over, but then moments later they were two down.
Gouffran didn't see Aaron Lennon nip past him and felled the Englishman in the area, with Lukaku stroking home the resulting penalty for his fifth goal in six Premier League appearances against Newcastle.
It got worse for John Carver's side before the hour mark when captain Fabricio Coloccini was shown a straight red card for lunging in on Lennon.
Moussa Sissoko was closest to getting Newcastle on the scoresheet, but it would be Everton to score the third of the game in added time when Ross Barkley rounded Krul to roll home after being played in by fellow substitute Christian Atsu.
Everton stay 14th in the table, but they are now two wins clear of 18th-placed Burnley. As for Newcastle, it's just one win in nine away league games for the Magpies, who are four points better off than Everton in 11th place.
Pascal Lemesre
