Everton crushed Aston Villa 3-0 to finally secure their first home Premier League win of the season at Goodison Park on Saturday.
Roberto Martinez's side had failed to win any of their first three home league games but, inspired by England midfielder Ross Barkley in his first appearance of the season following a knee injury, they were far too strong for lacklustre Villa.
When captain Phil Jagielka opened the scoring with his second in three league matches there was a sense it was going to be Everton's day.
Belgian striker Romelu Lukaku, who benefited from a mistake by Villa goalkeeper Brad Guzan, got the second goal and Seamus Coleman was also on the scoresheet on his return after a month out injured.
Barkley took centre-stage early on, volleying over a rebound from Leon Osman's shot, drilling a free-kick into the wall after he had drawn the foul and then casually side-stepping Ashley Westwood and forcing Guzan to tip over.
That ultimately led to the opening goal as from the second corner in succession the ball came back to Leighton Baines, who delivered a perfect cross with his weaker right foot for Jagielka to convert a stooping header.
After six goals in his previous 210 league appearances, the centre-back now has two in his last three after scoring a brilliant late equaliser in the Merseyside derby last month.
The loss of centre-back Nathan Baker to injury did not help Villa's cause and Alan Hutton's curling effort just wide of Tim Howard's right-hand post was the closest they came to troubling the Everton goalkeeper in the first half.
Barkley's poise and vision then saw him pick out Coleman, who cut inside to force Guzan to palm away his left-footed shot, but the Villa goalkeeper should have done much better three minutes after half-time.
The instigator again was Barkley as he rolled a pass inside for Lukaku to collect, and while his left-footed shot was on target it was hardly the most ferocious but Guzan allowed it to squirm under his arm.
Villa were condemned to a fourth successive Premier League defeat, without scoring a single goal, when Coleman completed their misery.
The Republic of Ireland international converted Baines' cross after Osman's quickly-taken free-kick 13 minutes from time.– AFP