Cape Town - Sunderland's performance against Everton was "not good" but manager Dick Advocaat could be pleased with how effective it was as they climbed out of the Premier League relegation zone thanks to a smash-and-grab 2-0 win on Saturday.
Sunderland arrived at Goodison Park without an away league win this year and spent much of the first half on the back foot despite fielding a front three of Danny Graham, Jermain Defoe and Connor Wickham.
But Graham's deflected goal gave Sunderland the lead against the run of play early in the second half before Defoe scored late on to secure a crucial three points and move Advocaat's side out of the bottom three with 36 points from 35 matches.