Yakubu denies old colleagues

Everton 1 Middlesbrough 1: KEITH HARRIS is not alone in struggling to sell Everton as a going concern right now.

The merchant banker admitted last week he is making little progress in attracting an investor to buy the club from Bill Kenwright and, for David Moyes, the quest to return some much-needed grandeur to Goodison Park is also proving a thankless task.

Victory was beyond Moyes's team for the sixth time in seven Premier League home matches yesterday and, but for a fortunate intervention from Yakubu Ayegbeni, their return at Goodison could have been far worse despite holding the edge over Gareth Southgate's disciplined Middlesbrough team.

Everton have now dropped 15 points on home soil this season, yet are only one point worse off than at the corresponding stage last term and the alarming statistics do not rest there. A crowd of 31,063 represented the lowest of Moyes's six-year tenure as Everton manager, albeit thanks to a sparse turn-out from the north-east, and frustration is well-founded.

"I am not concerned with the home form," said the Scot. "I'm sure by the end of the season we will have a good points total at Goodison. I have no doubts about that at all."

An improved performance may have supported Moyes's confidence. The end product did not.

Everton were neat and tidy throughout but rarely tested a Boro side content to threaten on the counter-attack, as illustrated perfectly with a breakthrough that originated from a Phil Neville cross into the visiting penalty area.

Stewart Downing led the break and benefited from three kind ricochets before answering the unmarked Gary O'Neil's pleas for a pass out to the right. An immaculate finish followed inside Tim Howard's near post, giving O'Neil his second goal in three games and Boro the early lead.

From then on the visitors allowed Everton to dominate possession, safe in the knowledge it would often go wide and rarely behind their defence, with the occasional break always liable to punish. Tuncay Sanli hooked over an inviting chance, while a more alert forward than Afonso Alves would have capitalised on several gaps that his team-mates found in the Everton defence.

Yet it was also a risky strategy against a side with six adventurous spirits on display and, while Everton were often pedestrian in possession, they should have recovered emphatically before the first half was over.

First to grant Southgate's team a reprieve was Yakubu, who failed to beat Ross Turnbull having cast aside Emanuel Pogatetz in the race for a Louis Saha flick-on. Pogatetz then blocked a goalbound effort from Marouane Fellaini after Joleon Lescott's cross had struck the inside of Turnbull's post and Tim Cahill, left unmarked at a corner, squandered a glorious chance to level a minute before the break.

When the equaliser finally came it owed more to luck than a rediscovered clinical edge by those in blue. As the 340 supporters who travelled down from Teesside might have guessed, it had to be Yakubu who struck against his former club. The €13.2 million striker had gone two months without a goal but was back on the scoresheet when Arteta's free-kick came off the number 22 on his shirt and deflected beyond Turnbull.

"That was important for Yak," said Moyes. "You score how you can and it doesn't matter if they come off your backside or, in this case, off your back. We'll take that."

The equaliser signalled the end of Everton's dominant spell and Boro almost secured three points when Didier Digard's shot was tipped on to a post by Howard. Phil Jagielka, a surprise omission from Fabio Capello's England squad on current form, produced a sublime challenge on Tuncay as Boro looked to catch Everton on the break again in stoppage time.

"We have recovered well since the Chelsea game," said Southgate, reflecting on a five-game unbeaten run since the 5-0 drubbing at The Riverside. "We saw against Chelsea what the very best can do and the standard you have to aspire to. We are showing more resilience and we are responding to every challenge we are being set at the moment."

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