Everton moved up to fifth place in the Premier League after a comfortable 2-0 win away to Sunderland.
With Aston Villa playing struggling Hull City on Monday, David Moyes' men took full advantage of the opportunity to climb the table and leapfrog Villa in the battle for fifth place.
Two second half goals settled the contest as Steven Pienaar rounded off a superb display with a goal and an assist. The midfielder opened the scoring in the 48th minute after some good link up play with on-loan striker Jo.
The game was out of Sunderland's reach by the 71st minute as makeshift striker Marouane Fellaini slotted home a pull-back from the impressive Pienaar.
Sunderland never looked like getting back into the game after that goal, as the strike duo of Djibril Cisse and Kenwyne Jones failed to spark again. The defeat means Sunderland are still not safe from relegation and face a battle to the wire for Premiership survival.
Having earlier seen the Magpies lose 3-0 at Liverpool to leave themselves with just three games in which to preserve their top-flight status, the Black Cats ran out knowing victory would virtually guarantee their own safety.
By contrast, Everton arrived on Wearside aware that three points would take them, although perhaps for little more than 24 hours, above Aston Villa into fifth place, and that was all the motivation the FA Cup finalists needed.
With so much at stake for both sets of players, it was a surprise that the opening 45 minutes unfolded at a relatively pedestrian pace with the home side struggling to impose themselves at all and the visitors unable to make the most of the promising positions they created.
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