Toffees too good for Boro

Everton sealed a 1-0 victory over Middlesbrough at the Riverside with Tim Cahill their Boxing Day hero.

Cahill seals Riverside win

Everton sealed a 1-0 victory over Middlesbrough at the Riverside with Tim Cahill their Boxing Day hero. The Australian was on hand to fire home from close range after his own header had been parried by Ross Turnbull in the Boro goal just minutes into the second-half. The scoreline, if anything, flattered the home side as Everton dominated from the start and should have won by more. Boro never got going, although could have levelled late on but Afonso Alves fired over from six yards. The win takes European-seeking Everton into sixth, but Boro's miserable run of form continues and they now sit in seventeenth after going seven games without a win.

Debutant

Debutant Dan Gosling looked bright as the visitors dominated the opening exchanges, with Steven Pienaar seeing a 10th-minute effort ruled out for a foul in the box by Joleon Lescott. The visitors were enjoying most of the early possession with Marouane Fellaini causing plenty of problems in his rangy role, but Boro had the first shot on target when Tuncay hit a low 14th-minute shot straight at Tim Howard. Julio Arca's awful back-header almost gifted the visitors a 27th-minute lead as Cahill raced to pick up the loose ball and set up Steven Pienaar who blazed a rising shot against the top of Turnbull's right-hand post. Then another mistake by Arca allowed Phil Neville to launch a rare run on goal ended with a low, long-range effort which flashed inches wide of the diving Turnbull's right-hand post. Boro went even closer in the 33rd minute when Stewart Downing's cross from the right fell to Gary O'Neil on the edge of the box and his driven right-footed shot was superbly turned around the post by Howard. With the home side enjoying an all-too-rare period of control, Downing's ball into the box was picked up by Mido whose shot on the turn was blocked at close range by the alert Lescott. Gosling had a shot blocked in the box by Emanuel Pogatetz but with referee Mike Riley frequently stopping the action for minor infringements it was developing into a niggly and forgettable affair.

Deadlock broken

Cahill broke the deadlock in the 50th minute with a goal befitting such a scrappy tie, poking home at the third attempt from a move started by Mikel Arteta's right-wing corner. Things should have become worse for the home side after 57 minutes when Fellaini lobbed a cross from the right which found Gosling unmarked on the edge of the six-yard box but the youngster blazed high and wide of target. Substitute Adam Johnson almost made an immediate impression when he ran into the box into the 71st minute and fell under the challenge of Arteta, but referee Riley waved away furious penalty appeals. Boro toiled in their bid to get back into the match with the visitors coping well with what little threat they could muster and frequently offering more danger on the counter-attack. And it was left to Alves to wrap up another woeful afternoon for the home side when he chipped a clear chance over the bar in the 88th minute after being played into the box by Mido.

Middlesbrough	Team Statistics	Everton
0	Goals	1
0	1st Half Goals	0
3	Shots on Target	3
3	Shots off Target	7
3	Blocked Shots	4
5	Corners	8
27	Fouls	19
1	Offsides	7
5	Yellow Cards	1
0	Red Cards	0
67.8	Passing Success	74.7
12	Tackles	13
50	Tackles Success	84.6
45.7	Possession	54.3
47.5	Territorial Advantage	52.5