Yak brace sinks Pompey
02 Mar 2008 - 17:55:16
Everton and Liverpool both won 3-1 on Sunday as the two Merseyside teams continued their battle to clinch the fourth Champions League place.
On Sunday lunchtime, the Reds eased to a comfortable victory at the Reebok Stadium while, later in the day, Everton were made to battle all they way before eventually claiming all three points against Portsmouth.
Yakubu scored a brace for David Moyes' side and Tim Cahill was also on the scoresheet at Goodison Park while Jermain Defoe was Pompey's sole scorer.
On Saturday, Arsenal came within seconds of conceding top spot in the Premier League to Manchester United before Nicklas Bendtner's stoppage-time equaliser earned a 1-1 draw with Aston Villa.
The Gunners lost two points for a second successive week, but had looked to be heading to a rare defeat when Philippe Senderos deflected a Gabriel Agbonlahor shot into his own net in front of a stunned Emirates Stadium.
Defeat would have seen United return to the summit on goal difference, but substitute Bendtner popped up with just seconds remaining to earn the Gunners a precious point.
Meanwhile, the Red Devils cruised to a 3-0 victory at struggling Fulham despite Sir Alex Ferguson shuffling his pack and starting with both Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo on the bench.
All three of the champions' goals at Craven Cottage came from unlikely sources as Owen Hargreaves' first for the club via a 15th minute free-kick opened the scoring before a second from Park Ji-Sung and Simon Davies' own goal secured the points.
Chelsea remain hard on the heels of the leaders as they survived the first-half dismissal of Frank Lampard to thrash West Ham United 4-0 at Upton Park.
The Blues had raced into a 3-0 lead by the time Lampard saw red for a spat with Luis Boa Morte.
The England midfielder had scored from the penalty spot and further strikes from ex-Hammer Joe Cole and Michael Ballack had shaped the outcome of the game.
Ashley Cole's second-half strike added a final gloss to the scoreline as under-fire boss Avram Grant ended a testing week on a high.
Elsewhere, Chelsea's Carling Cup Final conquerors Spurs went down to a surprise 4-1 defeat at relegation-plagued Birmingham City.
A Mikael Forssell hat-trick and a further strike from Seb Larsson gave the Blues renewed hope of avoiding relegation in an increasingly tightening dogfight at the bottom of the table.
Reading also boosted their survival hopes as James Harper's 90th minute winner secured a 1-0 success over Middlesbrough and finally snapped an eight-match losing sequence for Steve Coppell's side.
Sunderland picked up a point on the road despite failing to overcome Championship-bound Derby County in a dour goalless stalemate at Pride Park.
Newcastle, though, remain haunted by relegation fears as they slipped to a 1-0 home defeat at the hands of Blackburn Rovers.
Matt Derbyshire's last-minute strike secured a 1-0 win for Rovers and left Magpies boss Kevin Keegan still waiting for his first victory since returning to St James' Park seven games ago.
Meanwhile in Saturday's late kick-off, Manchester City's stuttering bid for European qualification suffered a further dent as they were held to a 0-0 draw by Wigan Athletic at Eastlands.
