Toffees thump Mackems
Manager David Moyes rested Nikica Jelavic, Leighton Baines and Tim Cahill with Wembley in mind but they were far superior to the Black Cats and made their dominance count in the second half.
Magaye Gueye netted his first Everton goal in the 52nd minute before a late flurry added gloss to the scoreline.
Steven Pienaar curled in a beauty in the 75th minute, and 60 seconds later Leon Osman followed suit before substitute Victor Anichebe wrapped things up with a volley that took a big deflection off Jack Colback.
The result lifted Everton four points clear of Liverpool ahead of the Reds’ clash with Blackburn tonight, where they will be looking for only a second league win in 10 games.
Round does not feel form will have much impact next weekend, though, saying: “You’re better off being confident going into any game, of course.
“But I think a semi-final at Wembley is a one-off, and I think a local derby is a one-off, so put the two together and there’s always that element of FA Cup fate. Whether you’ve got momentum or not, I’m not sure it matters — it’s all on the day.
“I think they are favourites. They’ve got so many great players and they’re such a good football club with history and tradition, but we’re a lot closer to them than we were.’’
For Sunderland it was another miserable result against their FA Cup quarter-final conquerors, who they have not beaten in the Premier League since December 2001.
Manager Martin O’Neill admitted: “We were well beaten in the end. Everton were physically stronger than us and deserved to win.’’
EVERTON: Howard, Hibbert, Jagielka, Heitinga, Neville (Coleman 83), Gueye, Fellaini (Anichebe 78), Osman, Pienaar, McFadden (Drenthe 65), Stracqualursi.
SUNDERLAND: Mignolet, Bardsley (Richardson 58), Turner, Kilgallon, Colback, Larsson, Vaughan (Wickham 75), Cattermole (Ji 68), McClean, Gardner, Sessegnon.
Referee: Kevin Friend (Leicestershire).
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