Gylfi Sigurdsson deepened Cardiff City's Premier League relegation fears with two well-taken goals in Everton's 3-0 victory in the Welsh capital on Tuesday.
Sigurdsson is now the leading Icelandic goalscorer in the Premier League, moving two clear of the 55 scored by former Chelsea player Eidur Gudjohnsen.
A first half low on quality was illuminated by one flowing move in the 41st minute which ended with Sigurdsson firing low into the corner after being picked out by Seamus Coleman.
Cardiff showed more tenacity in the second half but were deflated in the 65th minute when Sigurdsson lashed home his second of the night past Neil Etheridge.
A bad night for Neil Warnock's Cardiff got even worse when Dominic Calvert-Lewin got his name on the scoresheet in stoppage time to complete a comfortable Everton victory after three consecutive league defeats for Marco Silva's side.
Everton, who had been inactive since Feb. 9, moved into ninth spot ahead of the weekend's Merseyside derby.
"It was an important three points," the Everton boss, who has found himself under pressure, said.
"After the second goal I saw our players playing with more freedom, with more confidence and in that moment you could see the kind of football we can play."
Cardiff have conceded eight goals at home in two games, having been thrashed 5-1 by Watford last Friday and remain one place and one point above the relegation zone.
They will drop into the bottom three, however, if Southampton beat Fulham at home on Wednesday.
"We are very disappointed with that but we have 10 games left and we cannot keep thinking about it," Cardiff winger Nathaniel Mendez-Laing said.
"We have to move on and get our heads on Wolves now."
(Reporting by Martyn Herman; Editing by Toby Davis and Pritha Sarkar)
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