The visitors were three ahead at the break through Denilson – from the edge of the box – and two headed goals from Thomas Vermaelen and William Gallas.

Things got worse for the Toffees in the second period when Cesc Fabregas grabbed two for himself to underline an outstanding personal performance.

Eduardo netted the sixth before Louis Saha scored a consolation goal in injury-time for Everton.

Their jobs done, Arsenal took off Fabregas and Van Persie, sending on Aaron Ramsey and Eduardo.

With the ground emptying fast, and the Gunners’ fans in full song, Everton just wanted this embarrassment to end as quickly as possible.

But Eduardo still had time to score the sixth, netting from close in after Andrey Arshavin’s shot had come back off a post with two minutes to go.

Everton finally got onto the scoresheet in injury time when Saha netted after Pienaar’s shot had been blocked.