Wes Brown's own goal handed Sunderland's survival hopes a
huge blow on Saturday as they fell to a 1-0 home defeat against Everton.
On a day when relegation rivals Cardiff City and Fulham
both picked up victories, Brown was the unfortunate party in a largely stoic
Sunderland defence at the Stadium of Light.
Sunderland looked set to keep out an Everton side who
scored three against Arsenal on Sunday but the former Manchester United
defender unwittingly turned home Gerard Deulofeu's cross 15 minutes from time
to leave the Wearside club four points adrift at the bottom.
Roberto Martinez's charges were far from their fluent
best, but got the crucial stroke of luck they needed to earn a seventh straight
league win and assume pole position in the race for the fourth and final UEFA
Champions League spot.
Everton now sit two points clear of the fifth-placed
Arsenal, while Sunderland are deep in relegation trouble despite having two
games in hand.
Sunderland had the best opportunity of the first half as
Fabio Borini was denied an opener thanks to John Stones' sliding goalline
clearance.
Despite Everton producing better chances in the second
half, with Steven Naismith and Ross Barkley both going close, it took a
Sunderland man to give them the break they needed on what was another bad day
at the office for Gus Poyet's side.
A confident Everton made the early running as they
dominated possession, with Deulofeu having the game's first effort on target in
the ninth minute before Romelu Lukaku also stung the palms of Sunderland
goalkeeper Vito Mannone.
Naismith then shot over after an excellent turn past
Brown as Martinez's men began to find their feet.
However, Sunderland went closest to opening the scoring
when Borini's effort was cleared off the line thanks to a sliding Stones
clearance.
Borini pounced on a Leighton Baines error and rounded
Everton goalkeeper Tim Howard, only for Stones to desperately keep his shot
out.
The chance sparked a late spell of first-half pressure
for the hosts, culminating in Adam Johnson's shot being deflected wide, and
Phil Bardsley's blocked header led to a goalmouth scramble after the break.
Deulofeu's tantalising cross went unfinished at the other
end before Naismith failed to shoot into an empty net after Mannone had
inexplicably rushed out of his goal, only to head it into the path of the Scot.
Naismith lacked the composure to take the chance, turning
over, before Barkley's shot struck the outside of the post just after the
hour-mark.
Everton did get their winner though, as Deulofeu produced
another of his trademark bursts into the penalty area before his cut-back
struck Brown and rolled past the helpless Mannone.
Culled from Soccerway
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