David Moyes’ side looked to be heading for their first defeat in five matches when Gary O’Neil fired Middlesbrough into an early lead at Goodison Park.
But former Middlesbrough hitman Yakubu pounced for his first goal since September to extend Everton’s unbeaten run.
Despite that impressive record, there were still muted boos from the Goodison faithful as Everton failed to win in front of their own fans for the seventh time in eight attempts this season.
It could have been worse as O’Neil had given Middlesbrough the perfect start when he finished a sweeping move in the eighth minute.
Stewart Downing played the killer pass down the right flank and caught Joleon Lescott out of position. That gave O’Neil the time and space to run into the box and fire low past Tim Howard.
Tuncay Sanli was close to extending Middlesbrough’s lead from another Downing pass.
But Everton almost levelled through Yakubu. The Nigerian forward powered past Emanuel Pogatetz on the edge of the box before drawing a brave save from Ross Turnbull
Lescott’s swirling cross from the left after 23 minutes caused confusion in the Middlesbrough defence and the ball dropped for Marouane Fellaini. The Everton midfielder’s hooked effort was heading in until Pogatetz blocked on the line.
That sparked Everton into life and Phil Jagielka and Tim Cahill both had near-post headers that went close, before Joseph Yobo rose to meet a Phil Neville cross and headed just over the bar.
Cahill should have equalised just before half-time but the Australia midfielder’s header from Mikel Arteta’s corner bounced wide from close-range.
Boro lost defender Chris Riggott with an injured ankle after 51 minutes, but they almost caught Everton on the break when Afonso Alves and Tuncay combined to set up Julio Arca, who drove his shot over the bar.
Everton forward Louis Saha threatened when he met Arteta’s cross with a fierce header that just cleared the cross.
Middlesbrough had been warned about Arteta’s set-piece prowess and he made them pay in the 65th minute when Yakubu deflected home his free-kick.
Chelsea and Liverpool continued setting a hot pace at the top with emphatic away victories on Saturday.
Liverpool briefly went top courtesy of a 2-0 victory at Bolton Wanderers with goals from Dirk Kuyt and Steven Gerrard before Chelsea responded by thrashing bottom club West Bromwich Albion 3-0 at the Hawthorns.
Jose Bosingwa’s curling left-foot shot and two goals from Nicolas Anelka had the points in the bag by halftime for Chelsea who set a new Premier League record of 10 consecutive away wins.
They climbed back above Liverpool on goal difference with both clubs on 32 points from 13 matches.
Arsenal’s title hopes suffered another blow as they were beaten 2-0 at home by Aston Villa, Gael Clichy’s own goal and Gabriel Agbonlahor’s strike condemning the Gunners to a fourth league defeat of the season.
Manchester United moved above Arsenal into third place on 24 points by thumping Stoke City 5-0 at Old Trafford with Cristiano Ronaldo twice on target for the champions, who have a game in hand on their title rivals.
Sunderland jumped from 19th to 11th place with a 2-1 victory at Blackburn Rovers, who drop into the bottom three. Tottenham Hotspur are back in the relegation zone after a 2-1 reverse at Fulham, their first defeat under new manager Harry Redknapp.
Ten-man Wigan Athletic drew 2-2 at Newcastle United while Portsmouth drew 0-0 at West Ham United.
Chelsea, who suffered a shock exit in the League Cup on Wednesday, were too good for West Brom. Bosingwa broke the deadlock after 34 minutes with a stunning strike and Anelka showed a silky touch to chip Scott Carson for the second.
Any hope of a West Brom fightback was scuppered in first half stoppage time when Anelka scored from close range.
Arsenal suffered an off-day at the Emirates against a Villa side pushing hard for a top-four place and manager Arsene Wenger said his side were struggling to stay in the title race.
“If you want to be champions you want to be consistent and at the moment we are not,” Wenger said. “Villa played well and deserved to win.”
Villa could have been ahead at halftime had Arsenal keeper Manuel Almunia not saved Ashley Young’s penalty.
The visitors had to wait until the 70th minute to go ahead when Young’s cross was headed in by Clichy. As Arsenal pushed for an equaliser, Villa broke away and Agbonlahor raced through to secure his club’s first win at Arsenal for 15 years.
Results:
Played on Sunday:
Everton 1 Middlesbrough 1
Played on Saturday:
Arsenal 0 Aston Villa 2
Blackburn Rovers 1 Sunderland 2
Bolton Wanderers 0 Liverpool 2
Fulham 2 Tottenham Hotspur 1
Manchester United 5 Stoke City 0
Newcastle United 2 Wigan Athletic 2
West Bromwich Albion 0 Chelsea 3
West Ham United 0 Portsmouth 0
—Agencies