Leicester City's terrible run in Boxing Day Premier League fixtures continued as some calamitous defending contributed to a 2-0 victory for Everton.
Kevin Mirallas put Ronald Koeman's side ahead 51 minutes into a tightly contested but rather tepid encounter at the King Power Stadium, with slack defending from Wes Morgan and Marcin Wasilewski allowing the Belgian to net a third goal in his last three games against the champions.
Leicester, who have not won a Boxing Day match in the top-flight since 1998, had lost just one league game at home in 2016 prior to Monday's clash, but they failed to respond to going behind against an Everton side that had been defeated in their last four away fixtures.
Claudio Ranieri's side, without a plethora of key players, had their chances in a late glut of pressure, substitute Leonardo Ulloa guilty of squandering a fantastic opportunity shortly after coming on, which was ultimately punished by Lukaku's goal.
Leicester placed masks bearing Jamie Vardy's face on approximately 30,000 seats to protest the striker's suspension for a dubious red card picked up against Stoke City, and his absence was felt in a scrappy opening, with the hosts struggling to find space against Everton's three-man defence.
The visitors struggled to muster their own openings, but could well have taken the lead before the interval with Ramiro Funes Mori heading over from six yards, before Mirallas narrowly failed to prod home Leighton Baines' cross.
Neither Morgan nor Wasilewski was alert to Mirallas' run from Robles' long punt and the Belgium winger proceeded to squeeze a deflected finish past Kasper Schmeichel.
And Barkley played a key part in Everton's second as, moments after Idrissa Gueye had squandered a gilt-edged chance from point-blank range, his pass freed Lukaku, who outmuscled Morgan before driving towards goal and slotting a low finish into the bottom-left corner as the Toffees rebounded from the last-gasp defeat to rivals Liverpool last time out.
