Everton beat Portsmouth 3-1 at Goodison Park to move back into fourth place in the English Premier League after their Merseyside rivals Liverpool briefly moved into the position earlier in the day.

Liverpool also won 3-1, at relegation-threatened Bolton Wanderers, in Sunday's early kickoff and briefly moved ahead of Everton until David Moyes's men scored an emphatic win over Pompey.

Yakubu Aiyegbeni put Everton ahead after 47 seconds against his former club and scored his second of the game to make it 3-1 nine minutes from time.

He has now scored six goals in his last three games since returning from Nigeria's African Cup of Nations campaign.

Jermain Defoe had pulled Portsmouth level after 38 minutes but Tim Cahill's well-taken 73rd-minute header restored Everton's advantage.

Arsenal, who drew 1-1 with Aston Villa on Saturday, lead the standings with 65 points from 28 matches, followed by champions Manchester United (64 from 28), Chelsea (58 from 27), Everton (53 from 28) and Liverpool (50 from 27).

The race for the fourth Champions League spot will take another twist on Wednesday when Liverpool take on West Ham United at Anfield.

Liverpool went ahead at Bolton when Wanderers keeper Jussi Jaaskelainen conceded a bizarre own goal after 12 minutes.

Diving to his right to stop a Steven Gerrard shot that appeared to be going wide, the ball spun off the keeper's body and bounced back into the net.

Liverpool increased their lead after an hour when Ryan Babel scored with a low shot after Bolton failed to clear a Dirk Kuyt effort that bounced back off a post.

Brazilian Fabio Aurelio scored his first goal for Liverpool on his 46th appearance for them with a well-controlled left-foot volley after 75 minutes.

Tamir Cohen, whose father Avi played for Liverpool from 1979-81, headed a consolation for Bolton in the closing minutes but the home side were totally outplayed as they went down to a third successive league defeat.

Bolton stay 17th, one place above the relegation zone with 25 points from 28 matches, the same as Reading, who have an inferior goal difference.

Arsenal ended a difficult few days on a high note on Saturday when Nicklas Bendtner equalised seconds from the end to secure a 1-1 draw against Aston Villa which kept the Gunners in first place.

The point came a week after striker Eduardo's season was ended by a gruesome broken leg injury in the draw at Birmingham City.

Villa went ahead when Arsenal defender Philippe Senderos put through his own net after 27 minutes.

Manchester United closed the gap on Arsenal to a point with their 3-0 win at Fulham, while Chelsea bounced back from their League Cup final defeat to Tottenham Hotspur last weekend with a 4-0 win at West Ham United on Saturday.

Brought to you by AAP © 2024 AAP