Everton's Joleon Lescott (right) scores against Middlesbrough during their Barclays English Premier League soccer match at Goodison Park Stadium, Liverpool, England, yesterday. Everton won 2-0. - AP
LONDON (AP)
Everton beat Middlesbrough 2-0 yesterday to move up to fifth place in the Barclays English Premier League.
Defender Joleon Lescott and midfielder Steven Pienaar scored at Goodison Park to take Everton to 13 points, six fewer than leaders Arsenal, which won 1-0 at West Ham on Saturday.
Boro had three clear scoring chances in the first half, including a shot by South Korea striker Lee Dong-gook that hit the bar, but Everton led at half-time through a seventh-minute goal by Lescott.
Middlesbrough defended a corner poorly and had to clear a header by former Boro striker Yakubu Ayegbeni off the line. Lescott easily got to the rebound about six yards out and headed the ball back for his fourth goal of the season and third in the league.
Both teams had chances, but Pienaar made the game safe in the 58th.
The South Africa midfielder passed to Mikel Arteta on the left of the area and Arteta drew in three defenders before passing back to Pienaar who shot low past Middlesbrough goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer.
Chances
"Middlesbrough had a couple of chances in the first half which I'm not happy about but we made some (chances) and to tuck them away was good," Everton manager David Moyes said. "But the clean sheet pleases sometimes more than the goals.
Difficult to beat
"We've been difficult to beat since I've been here but not kept as many clean sheets as we should have done."
Everton moved up six places while Middlesbrough dropped a place to 14th in the standings with eight points.
Manchester United, Manchester City and Liverpool, who all played Saturday, are the other teams still above Everton.
Defending champion Manchester United won 1-0 at Birmingham through a goal by Cristiano Ronaldo, Manchester City rallied to beat Newcastle 3-1 and maintain a perfect home record, while Liverpool won 1-0 at Wigan with a late goal from substitute Yossi Benayoun.
Chelsea slipped seven points behind Arsenal on Saturday after a 0-0 draw against visiting Fulham that extended their winless streak to four league matches. Captain John Terry left the field with a broken cheekbone and striker Didier Drogba was sent off to complete a terrible day for the Blues.
Also Saturday, Benjani Mwaruwari scored a hat-trick to lead Portsmouth to a 7-4 win over Reading in the highest scoring match in the Premier League's 15-year history.
Tottenham get the chance to climb out of the relegation places today when they host Aston Villa.
STANDINGS
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts |
| 1. Arsenal | 7 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 16 | 4 | 19 |
| 2. Man U | 8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 2 | 17 |
| 3. Man City | 8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 6 | 16 |
| 4. Liverpool | 7 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 12 | 2 | 15 |
| 5. Everton | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 10 | 8 | 13 |
| 6. Portsmouth | 8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 15 | 12 | 12 |
| 7. Blackburn | 7 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 5 | 12 |
| 8. Chelsea | 8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 8 | 12 |
| 9. Newcastle | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 8 | 11 |
| 10. Aston Villa | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 4 | 10 |
| 11. West Ham | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 7 | 10 |
| 12. Wigan | 8 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
| 13. Birm'ham | 8 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 10 | 8 |
| 14. M,'brough | 8 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 9 | 13 | 8 |
| 15. S'land | 8 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 13 | 8 |
| 16. Fulham | 8 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 12 | 14 | 7 |
| 17. Reading | 8 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 9 | 18 | 7 |
| 18. Tottenham | 7 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 10 | 12 | 5 |
| 19. Bolton | 8 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 9 | 13 | 5 |
| 20. Derby C | 8 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 21 | 5 |
1-2: Champions League/EC I 3-4: Champions League preliminary round 5: UEFA Cup 6-7: UEFA Cup depending on domestic cup 18-20: Relegation Playing today (GMT): Tottenham Hotspur v Aston Villa (1900)
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