Arsenal suffered another bout of travel sickness on Saturday when James Beattie's first-half goal was enough to earn Everton a 1-0 victory in the English Premier League.
With the top three sides not playing until Sunday, fourth-placed Tottenham Hotspur wasted the chance to make inroads when they were held 0-0 at home by Aston Villa.
Arsenal, who have only won twice away in the league this season, remain fifth on 37 points, 24 behind leaders Chelsea who are at home to Charlton Athletic in a London derby on Sunday.
Second-placed Manchester United, 16 points behind Jose Mourinho's side, also take on Liverpool at Old Trafford on Sunday.
Debut goals from David Thompson and Neil Mellor, who hit an injury-time winner for Wigan Athletic, continued Middlesbrough's poor run as they lost 3-2 at the Riverside.
Bolton Wanderers overcame Manchester City 2-0 while Morten Gamst Pedersen netted for Blackburn Rovers in a 1-0 victory at Newcastle United.
DROP ZONE
At the bottom, Birmingham City leapfrogged Portsmouth in the drop zone with a 5-0 demolition of Harry Redknapp's side at St Andrews.
Beattie, whose six league goals this season for Everton have all come at Goodison Park, outmuscled Sol Campbell and Philippe Senderos to latch on to Tim Cahill's through ball and slot a low shot past Jens Lehmann after 13 minutes.
Freddie Ljungberg struck the post for Arsenal early on but the London side had another let off before halftime when a goal from Beattie was harshly ruled out for offside.
Arsenal, forced to switch Lauren to left back in place of the injured Ashley Cole and hand a league debut to teenage defender Kerrea Gilbert on the right, enjoyed the lion's share of possession without threatening an equaliser.
Their frustration boiled over in the closing minutes when Spanish midfielder Cesc Fabregas was shown a straight red card for raising his hands to Cahill's face.
Everton's fourth successive league win moved them up into mid-table.
"It was just a really top performance by the players. It has been coming and it was a big result," Everton manager David Moyes told the Everton website.
"We are on a bit of a run now."
SORENSEN SAVES
Spurs, who had won their last four home games, found Aston Villa goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen in inspired form at White Hart Lane.
Sorensen kept out Teemu Tainio's first-half lob but saved his best for the second half when he denied Michael Carrick, Tainio again and Michael Brown. Villa had Gareth Barry sent off late on but held on for a point.
"We are disappointed, but not frustrated," Spurs manager Martin Jol told Sky Sports News.
"We are still capable of achieving something. It is a good hill to climb in the last 15 matches."
Middlesbrough's freefall continued against Wigan with Steve McClaren's side now without a league win since November 20, a run that has left them one place above the relegation zone.
Boro were greeted with a chorus of boos at the final whistle after having looked set to take a point. They had battled back from two goals down, substitute Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Aiyegbeni Yakubu cancelling out first-half goals from Jason Roberts and Thompson.
"We are very down, frustrated and disappointed but determined to put things right," said Boro manager Steve McClaren.
"We have to keep believing that our luck will turn and we will get out of this."
Portsmouth, charged by the Premier League on Friday with breaching its "approach rules" regarding the reappointment of Redknapp as manager, were sent packing by rampant Birmingham.
City were two up at the break through Jiri Jarosik and Jermaine Pennant. Defender Matthew Upson headed in a third before late goals from Mikael Forssell and David Dunn rubbed salt in the wounds.
© 2024 Rediff.com -