Sport - Football

Draw dents Everton’s chance

LONDON: Everton missed the chance to draw level with Liverpool in the race for fourth place — and the final Champions League spot — playing to a 1-1 draw at Birmingham on Saturday in the Premier League.

Mauro Zarate scored the equaliser for Birmingham with a free kick in the 83rd minute, in answer to Joleon Lescott’s 78th-minute header. The draw lifted Everton to 61 points, two less than fourth-place Liverpool.

Birmingham’s draw also helped relegation-threatened Bolton and Fulham, who both picked up valuable wins.

Bolton beat West Ham 1-0, with Fulham winning 2-0 at Reading for its first away victory in the league since September 2006.

Aston Villa beat already-relegated Derby County 6-0 with six different goal scorers. Derby’s cause was not helped by goalkeeper Roy Carroll, who gifted Villa three first-half goals.

The rout also helped keep Villa in the hunt for a UEFA Cup slot. Derby’s only league win this season was in September.

In other results, it was: Sunderland 1, Manchester City 2 and Tottenham 1, Middlesbrough 1.

With four games remaining, Derby is bottom on 11 points. Fulham has 27, Bolton 29, Birmingham 31, Reading 32 and Wigan Athletic Athletic, which plays Chelsea on Monday, has 34.

The results:

Birmingham 1 (Zarate 83) drew with Everton 1 (Lescott 78), Bolton 1 (Davies 47) bt West Ham 0, Derby County 0 lost to Aston Villa 6 (Young 25, Carew 26, Petrov 36, Barry 58, Agbonlahor 76, Harewood 85).

Reading 0 lost to Fulham 2 (McBride 24, Nevland 90), Sunderland 1 (Whitehead 82) lost to Manchester City 2 (Elano 79-pen, Vassell 87), Tottenham 1 (Grounds 27-og) drew with Middlesbrough 1 (Downing 69). — Agencies

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