Yakubu stoops to conquer

Everton 3 Portsmouth 1IF LIVERPOOL'S win over Bolton Wanderers had removed the frisson of expectation that Everton may be able to increase their lead and make fourth place in the Premier League that little bit more secure, an early goal by Yakubu Ayegbeni initially had Goodison Park dancing in the wind like daffodils in nearby Stanley Park.

Thereafter it all went extremely flat for David Moyes's side until a Tim Cahill header in the 73th minute made sure Everton maintained their three-point lead over Liverpool in the league with Yakubu adding a third goal.

Obviously it was Cahill, who had not been well all week, and Yakubu who took the plaudits, although it was the arrival of Andy Johnson midway through the second half that changed the balance of a game that Portsmouth had appeared to be shifting sharply in their direction.

"Could you see Everton winning after an hour?" asked Harry Redknapp, the Portsmouth manager. "We were getting stronger and stronger but perhaps we pushed forward a bit too much. Johnson came on and we immediately had problems."

Kanu might so easily have put Portsmouth ahead at the beginning of the second half with a long and sinuous run which ended with Tim Howard saving from close range, this after Jermain Defoe had equalised Yakubu's early header towards the end of the first half. After that Everton were lacking in attacking spark although the introduction of Johnson energised them and forced Portsmouth back on the defence whereas previously they had been comfortably dealing with the majority of the home side's insipid attacks while showing clear signs of breaking out for a winner of their own.

Johnson's colleagues responded to his thrusts with an added directness of their own, which had previously been almost entirely lacking.

Yakubu rediscovered his verve, chasing down a loose ball and feeding it back to Steven Pienaar whose crosses had often lacked quality but this time he hit it at exactly the right speed and height and Cahill headed in as the Portsmouth defence, like Everton for Defoe's equaliser, went absent.

And so this match was suddenly turned round in a manner that had not at all seemed likely given the relative ease with which Portsmouth were controlling matters before the substitution of Tony Hibbert for Johnson.

And now it was all Everton. The dam had been broken and they came rushing through with Yakubu underpinning this late dominance with a third goal when he cut inside Sol Campbell to drive the ball past David James.

"He's loved and wanted here," said Moyes. "We got off to a fantastic start and then wasted three or four opportunities. Their goal was a real lapse in concentration and they began the second half much better than us. But the minute Andy Johnson came on he started to worry them."

As so often happens when there is an early goal, the edge went out of the game for long periods in the first half. Everton were obviously delighted, given their away match against Fiorentina on Thursday, and tended to take their foot off the pedal while Portsmouth, shocked by the suddenness of the goal, had been forced to regroup somewhat gingerly, anxious not to concede again. Yakubu had sped away from the kick-off only to be brought down by Lassana Diarra. From Pienaar's free-kick Joseph Yobo touched the ball on and Yakubu dived forward to head home.

Gradually, Portsmouth began to rediscover their self-belief with the pace of Glen Johnson an obvious danger to Everton. Then just when the Everton defence might have expected another spearing run deep into the heart of them by the full-back, Johnson checked before launching a diagonal left-foot cross, which only Defoe anticipated.

Initially, it was not perfectly clear whether the striker had actually made contact, or whether the cross had curled directly in past Howard in the Everton goal. Defoe was adamant that he had scored. At this stage, Redknapp believed his side would go on to win but Everton are nothing if not resilient these days.