Everton have moved back within a point of Arsenal in the race for a top-four finish after beating Manchester United 2-0 at Goodison Park this evening.
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The Gunners' 3-0 victory over Hull City prior to kick off heaped the pressure on Roberto Martinez's men to keep pace in their bid to achieve Champions League qualification.
The Toffees rose to the occasion, however, as first-half goals from Leighton Baines and Kevin Mirallas proved sufficient to down United and keep the pressure on Arsenal ahead of the three remaining games.
The hosts enjoyed plenty of possession in the early exchanges and could have gone ahead after 20 minutes, but Steven Naismith fired Romelu Lukaku's knock-down header over the bar.
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It was a sign of things to come as Martinez's troops took the lead shortly after through Baines, who converted from the penalty spot after Phil Jones was penalised by referee Mark Clattenburg for handling Lukaku's shot in the box.
Things went from bad to worse for manager David Moyes on his return to Goodison Park, as Mirallas beat the offside trap before firing past David de Gea from an acute angle three minutes before the break.
The visitors emerged from the interval briefly reinvigorated, with Wayne Rooney and Shinji Kagawa both having good opportunities to halve the deficit.
Their momentum subsided, though, and the hosts could have killed off any chance of a comeback on 78 minutes through Naismith, whose goal-bound effort was tipped agonisingly wide by de Gea following a swift counter-attack.
Rooney could, and perhaps should, have set up a nervy finale to the encounter after being played through by Javier Hernandez, but the former Everton youth product was thwarted by goalkeeper Tim Howard in the closing minutes.
Shane Callaghan
