Everton racked up back-to-back home wins against Nottingham Forest.
Idrissa Gueye broke the deadlock midway through the first half with a half-volley after a headed clearance broke for him on the edge of the penalty area.
The Blues extended their advantage in the final 15 minutes through Dwight McNeil producing a carbon copy effort to beat Matz Sels for a second time.
Sean Dyche’s side stay 16th in the Premier League table but opened up a five-point safety cushion from the relegation zone with five games remaining.
Here were the key talking points from Goodison Park:
Blues teach Forest a lesson in class
The last thing Everton needed to end this month was back-to-back derbies.
Monday’s humiliation at Chelsea left Sean Dyche’s side facing a potential reckoning as their Premier League survival bid looked set to go to the wire.
But before renewing hostilities with Liverpool next week, they had to do battle with fellow strugglers Nottingham Forest in the so-called ‘deduction derby’.
Both clubs have been on the receiving end of punitive measures for financial fair play breaches with a combined 12 points chalked off already this season.
That, however, is where the similarities begin and end after a Goodison Park encounter where the visitors produced precious little and complained plenty.
Within seconds of the final whistle, they sent a tweet seen around the world that implied officialdom bias and claimed to have been wronged three times.
To listen to the belly-aching from the ‘Tricky Trees’, impartial observers could be forgiven for believing they were the ones who had lost eight points alone.
Dyche has been a firm believer in doing the talking on the pitch and the Blues delivered a lesson in class by taking a pivotal step towards top-flight safety.
Dyche not afraid to mix it up
The Chelsea humbling left some Evertonians doubting Dyche’s capabilities.
Stale, predictable, and unrelenting; a solitary win from their previous 15 top-fight outings more than justified the former defender’s growing dissenters.
So Dyche tried to change things up, in more ways than one, for Forest’s visit.
Everton played with a greater intensity from the outset, pressing high and forcing their relegation rivals into a spell of stumbles in the middle of the park.
Shooting on sight was another trait of the rethink, with both goals arriving from near-identical strikes from distance by Idrissa Gueye and Dwight McNeil.
Dyche’s touchline attire, too, raised eyebrows as he traded the familiarity of the suit and tie combination in favour of a more relaxed training wear look.
Although he is unlikely to switch to the tracksuit in the long run, the symbolism behind the changed appearance dovetailed with a different way of working.
Beto scare adds to striker woes
Such is the nature of life at Goodison, even this victory carried drawbacks.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin was withdrawn midway through the second half with a suspected knock before his replacement Beto suffered a late injury scare.
The Portuguese marksman came off worse in a clash of heads with Morgan Gibbs-White, knocking him unconscious during an already lengthy added time.
Thankfully Beto was able to raise a hand in acknowledgement to the home crowd that had held its breath before he was eventually stretchered off.
Concussion protocols mean the summer signing is automatically ruled out of the Merseyside derby while Calvert-Lewin’s knock remains undetermined.
If the latter fails to shake his latest fitness issue, Youssef Chermiti could be thrust into the spotlight against Liverpool unless Dyche deploys a ‘false nine’.
Neither option is overly appealing, with Beto’s compatriot still raw and untested in the league while an auxiliary striker has hardly been a resounding success.
Should that worst-case scenario occur, Dyche will have a big call to make.