LONDON, Nov 27: Defender Joseph Yobo hauled Everton out of the Premier League relegation zone with the only goal in a 1-0 win over Newcastle United and Fulham also steered clear of trouble with a 2-1 win over Bolton Wanderers on Sunday.

Another struggling side, West Bromwich Albion, earned a creditable 2-2 draw at Middlesbrough after coming from behind to briefly take the lead at the Riverside.

Newcastle, missing injured England striker Michael Owen, had piled on the first-half pressure at Goodison Park but Nigerian Yobo nodded home from a Mikel Arteta corner just a minute after the break.

Fulham, who had been just two points above the drop zone, accelerated away thanks to two first- half goals from American striker Brian McBride.

There was some late drama, though, with Fulham midfielder Sylvain Legwinski scoring a 90th-minute own goal and Bolton’s El Hadji Diouf being shown a second yellow card, apparently for dissent, after the whistle had blown and effectively getting sent off.

Boosted by their wins, Fulham moved up to 14th place on 15 points while Everton edged out of the bottom three to 16th place on 13.

Australian striker Mark Viduka put Middlesbrough in front after 12 minutes but Nathan Ellington equalised before second-half goals from Nwankwo Kanu (57th minute) put West Brom ahead, only for Yakubu Aiyegbeni to level from the penalty spot.

Results:

Played on Sunday:

Everton 1 Newcastle United 0

Fulham 2 Bolton Wanderers 1

Middlesbrough 2 West Bromwich Albion 2

Played on Saturday:

Arsenal 3 Blackburn Rovers 0

Aston Villa 1 Charlton Athletic 0

Manchester City 0 Liverpool 1

Portsmouth 0 Chelsea 2

Sunderland 0 Birmingham City 1

Wigan Athletic 1 Tottenham Hotspur 2

—Reuters