Gylfi Sigurdsson relieved the pressure on Marco Silva with a goal in each half in Everton's 3-0 win at Cardiff
Coming into the game on a run of one win in six, Everton looked nervous but still had the better of the first half and snatched the lead four minutes before the break when Sigurdsson swept home Seamus Coleman's cut-back from the right following a throw-in to become the Premier League's highest-scoring Icelander
Sigurdsson smashed in another midway through the second half once Bernard's shot had been parried into his path
 The goal seemed to relax Everton, and they controlled the rest of the game in some style
Cardiff did carve out several half-chances but failed to register a single shot on target across the 90 minutes, while Calvert-Lewin netted an injury-time third for Everton on the break to seal a comprehensive and welcome win for Marco Silva ahead of a Merseyside derby showdown with Liverpool live on  on Sunday from 4pm
The game burst into life in the early stages with Cardiff close to a first-minute opener when Phil Jagielka's slip allowed Kenneth Zohore to cross for Nathaniel Mendez-Laing at the far post, but Lucas Digne's smart block put the ball behind before he could reach it
Zohore went for goal himself with Cardiff's next chance from Gunnarsson's lob into the box, chesting the ball down but firing into the side netting under pressure from Michael Keane
Everton had gone close through a dipping Theo Walcott volley from the angle but took a half-time lead four minutes before the break
 When Cardiff switched off from a throw-in, Morgan Schneiderlin slid Coleman away down the right and he cut the ball back to Sigurdsson, who slotted the ball into the far corner
After half-time Cardiff again came close when Bruno Ecuele Manga spotted Zohore playing on the shoulder of Keane and sent him racing onto his long ball forward
 He cut inside from the left but with Bobby Reid and Mendez-Laing in support, Jagielka positioned himself between both and cleared before either could turn in an equaliser
Instead Everton doubled their advantage within minutes
 Richarlison cut a frustrated figure as he trudged off for Bernard, but the substitute vindicated Silva's decision to introduce him almost immediately by using some quick feet to beat Manga before seeing his shot parried by Neil Etheridge into Sigurdsson's path, from which the midfielder's powerful drive left the goalkeeper no chance as it flew into the roof of the net
A sloppy Cardiff performance was booed off at full-time but not before Everton had put the cherry on a considerable cake when Idrissa Gueye took advantage of some lax defending to slide through Calvert-Lewin, and despite Etheridge's save his powerful drive flew into the bottom corner
"I didn't think it was bad if I'm honest, it was just individual errors and it took someone who cost £50m to punish us
 He took his two goals well but it was mistakes from us and that's what happens at this level, you get punished
 That's what happened tonight
"We deserved three points, we were in command of the whole match, we knew they were strong from set pieces, long throws and winning the second ball, but we did well
 In the first minute they had a moment but after that we controlled the match
"This was a special night for Everton's number 10 when he became the Premier League's all-time top-scoring Icelander, beating Eidur Gudjohnsen's record of 55 goals which has stood for almost nine years
In a game lacking quality he had more shots on target (2) than anyone else on the pitch, and both ended up as smart finishes which Neil Etheridge could do little about
With one goal in his previous 10 games, this double could not have set up this weekend's showdown with Liverpool much better for the midfielder
Cardiff face a tough test at Wolves at 3pm on Saturday, while Everton host Liverpool in the Merseyside derby, live on  from 4pm
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