Jermaine Beckford bagged his first Premier League brace as Everton moved into the top half with a routine victory over disappointing Sunderland. Kieran Richardson dragged wide for the visitors but it was Beckford who opened the scoring, his shot from a Leon Osman pass deflecting in off Titus Bramble. Sunderland's Stephane Sessegnon hit the bar before Mikel Arteta's fine solo run enabled Beckford to slot in for 2-0. The visitors offered little as they slipped to a fourth successive defeat. It was not how Black Cats manager Steve Bruce will have wanted to celebrate the new contract he signed at the Stadium of Light on Friday in a deal set to keep him at the Wearside club until 2014. Sunderland looked devoid of ideas and inspiration on a ground where they have not won since 1996 and they never seemed likely to get their first victory since beating Blackpool 2-1 away in January. They should have gone ahead inside the first five minutes as the Everton defence went walkabout and Richardson had the freedom of their penalty box, only for the midfielder to take his shot early and drag it hopelessly off target. From then on it was mostly one-way traffic as Everton, buoyed by their FA Cup win at Chelsea last weekend, showed their quality in every area of the pitch. They went in front when Osman played a clever reverse ball into the Sunderland box and, after Louis Saha left it, Beckford's left-foot effort was bundled in off Bramble. Saha was enjoying his return after injury, the Frenchman making his first appearance since a four-goal salvo against Blackpool three weeks ago. He and Beckford, who were only starting a Premier League game together for the secend time, were causing havoc. Sunderland nearly struck against the run of play when £6m January signing Sessegnon fizzed a right-foot shot goalwards from 20 yards, Tim Howard producing a wonderful fingertip save to divert the ball on to the crossbar. But Everton wasted no time in capitalising on their keeper's brilliance to double the lead. It was created by the majestic Arteta at his best. The Spaniard superbly turned away from one defender, hared past John Mensah and crossed for Beckford, who scuffed his shot a touch, to make it 2-0. Suddenly David Moyes' men were threatening to run riot as Saha had one shot blocked and fired another wide as Sunderland failed to close him down. Beckford had a golden chance to complete a maiden Premier League hat-trick moments after the restart, but the former Leeds United player, who struck his last treble in a League One game against Yeovil in March 2009, blazed over after more fine work from Osman. Some of Everton's free-flowing football was a delight to behold and they should have given the scoreline a more emphatic look, Osman volleying wide and Simon Mignolet saving expertly twice from Seamus Coleman and once from Saha. Everton substitute Diniyar Bilyaletdinov crashed wide after a breathtaking exchange of passes and as the clock ticked down Osman had another shot headed off the line after he had gone round Mignolet. But by then, the hosts had already done more than enough to ensure they would move back into the top 10 and climb to within four points of Sunderland in eighth place with a game in hand. Source: BBC