Everton thrashed Brighton & Hove Albion 5-1 at the Amex Stadium to move out of the Premier League relegation zone.

The Toffees entered the contest without a win in seven games, but they got off to the best possible start when Abdoulaye Doucoure opened the scoring inside 34 seconds.

The midfielder doubled his tally for the season in the 29th minute, producing a composed finish from Dwight McNeil's accurate cross.

A miserable first half for the hosts was compounded when Jason Steele inadvertently deflected the ball into his own net.

Brighton looked to mount a fightback in the second half, striking the woodwork on a number of occasions, but Everton quickly broke away to add a fourth through McNeil and end any hopes of the Seagulls claiming a positive result.

Although Alexis Mac Allister pulled a goal back, Brighton's disappointing evening ended with a fifth Everton goal in stoppage time as McNeil fired home to round off his superb individual performance.

While the Toffees move up to 16th place, Roberto De Zerbi's side remain in seventh position and two points adrift of sixth-placed Tottenham Hotspur, who have played two games more.

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Any late arrivals to the Amex Stadium would have missed Everton's electric start, as Doucoure gave the visitors a precious lead inside the opening minute.

The former Watford midfielder was on hand to turn the ball home after being superbly picked out by Dominic Calvert-Lewin.

Everton were content to sit deep and hit Brighton on the counter-attack, and Sean Dyche's gameplan laid the blueprint for the Toffees to double their lead just before the half-hour mark.

The Merseyside club broke from inside their own half through McNeil, and he showed great composure to find the run of Doucoure, who produced a cushioned volley to score two goals in a game for the second time in his career.

The travelling support were in dreamland, and they had another goal to celebrate 10 minutes before half time when McNeil's cutback deflected into the net off Steele.

James Garner nearly added his name to the scoresheet in first-half stoppage time, but his goalbound effort was blocked by Lewis Dunk.

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After a disappointing performance in the opening 45, Evan Ferguson attempted to lead the Brighton response after the restart.

Pascal Gross lofted a dangerous cross onto the head of Ferguson, who forced Jordan Pickford to palm the ball onto the post.

Moments later, the Everton goalkeeper frustrated the Republic of Ireland international once again, tipping a powerful left-foot strike onto the crossbar.

From the resulting corner, Mac Allister's glancing header struck the far upright, leaving Brighton to rue their luck.

The World Cup winner was then thwarted by the inspired Pickford, and the Toffees quickly broke away to add a fourth through McNeil, who utilised a neat piece of skill to deceive Dunk and Steele, before rolling the ball into an empty net.

McAllister netted a late consolation for the hosts, before they conceded a fifth in stoppage time as McNeil unleashed a thunderous strike past Steele to wrap up Everton's second away win of the Premier League season.