Arouna Koné helped himself to a hat-trick as Everton bludgeoned Sam Allardyce's inept Sunderland side with a 6-2 win at Goodison Park that could easily have been a heavier winning margin.

Everton had careered into a 2-0 lead after 31 minutes courtesy of goals from Gerard Deulofeu and Kone, but the visiting side somehow managed to restore parity five minutes after half-time with a Jermaine Defoe volley in time added on in the first and Steven Fletchers' header five minutes after half-time cancelling out Everton's lead.

The Sunderland defence was an obvious problem throughout the afternoon and proved to be their ulimate undoing as a Coates own goal (55), a Romelu Lukaku finish (60') and further efforts from Kone (62' 76') condemned the visiting team to a defeat that sums up why Dutch coach Dick Advocaat walked out on the manager's job complaining about a lack of resources.

Everton move into the top half of the Premier League table while Suinderland remain second bottom of the table on six points from 11 games.

Their 3-0 derby win over 10-man Newcastle United a week ago seems a long time ago in what appears to be a long and arduos struggle to avoid dropping into the Championship next season.

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