Everton easily accounted for Stoke City 3-0 at the Britannia Stadium on Saturday.
Roberto Martinez's side made it two three-goal wins on the trot with a seemingly comfortable cruise at the Potteries as Mark Hughes' men crashed to a third straight defeat.
The visitors opened the scoring in the 11th minute when Romelu Lukaku converted from 12 yards after Jack Butland had up-ended Tom Cleverley in the area. The goal was the Belgian's 16th of the season.
Before the half-hour mark, Everton were two goals ahead thanks to Seamus Coleman's first of the season which came with a lovely glancing header from Cleverley's inswinging corner.
The Toffees then added a third when Aaron Lennon pounced on a defensive error before advancing into the area and slotting beyond Butland in the 42nd minute.
The win lifted Everton to eighth on the table as the Potters fell to 11th, having failed to score for four consecutive games and losing 3-0 in their past three.
MATCH OVERVIEW
Stoke City: 0
Everton: 3 (Romelu Lukaku (PEN) 11', Seamus Coleman 28', Aaron Lennon 42')
Britannia Stadium, Stoke-on-Trent - 27,733
TALKING POINTS
- What is happening at Stoke? As soon as they are given the moniker 'Stoke-alona' they have dropped off? Hughes needs to instil some solidity.
- The Toffees are starting to string it together after an indifferent first half of the season. Are they good enough to push for a top four or five finish?
WHAT'S NEXT?
Stoke will be searching for a much-needed victory when they head to Bournemouth on Saturday as Everton prepare to host West Bromwich Albion.
TWITTER INSIGHT
What a win that was today, top performance by the lads and 3 clean sheets in a row thought we was at Goodison at times with the noise!
— Aaron Lennon (@AaronLennon12) February 6, 2016
Great win @Evertonpic.twitter.com/wqfsgk2gr5
— MoBesic (@Mo_Besic) February 6, 2016
QUOTES CORNER
Stoke boss Hughes on the subpar showing:
"Sometimes you just have to accept it is not going to be your day.
"It is always difficult when you are chasing the game as the home team because there is an onus on you - and rightly so. Your fans want you to try and get back into the game.
"But when you do that, there is always that risk you are going to leave yourself exposed."
Everton's Martinez on such a result at a tough venue:
"Overall, to come to the Britannia Stadium and get that scoreline with the controlling performance we had was very pleasing.
"I think it shows how far we have come this season and how hungry the group is to finish the season really strong.
"Being able to be mature with our performances has been a real enigma this season."
STATS SPECIALS
*Thanks to Opta
3 - Everton have won three penalties in their last two PL games; this after winning none in their opening 23 games of the season. Buses.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) February 6, 2016
3 - Aaron Lennon has scored in three successive competitive appearances for the first time in his career. Glee.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) February 6, 2016
