Man City not sure of fourth spot after loss

London: Manchester City fans are used to their team doing things the hard way so they will have hardly been surprised when, with fourth place there for the taking, they fell to a 2-1 Premier League defeat by Everton on Saturday.

The result made it seven wins in eight meetings for the Toffees and ensured a nervous finale to the season with Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur, who visit City on Tuesday, still in with an outside chance of overhauling them and snatching the Champions League qualifying round slot.

City, who face Stoke City in the FA Cup final next week, are fourth on 62 points from 35 games. Fifth-placed Liverpool have 55 from 35 and Tottenham Hotspur, who host Blackpool later on Saturday, have 55 from 34.

Arsenal, who visit Stoke on Sunday, have 67 points while Chelsea are second on 70 and Manchester United top on 73 ahead of their crunch title clash at Old Trafford on Sunday.

West Ham United ended a run of five defeats with a 1-1 home draw against Blackburn Rovers but remain bottom of the standings and destined for relegation after Robbie Keane missed a glorious late chance to win it.

Wigan Athletic, who host West Ham next week, drew 1-1 at Aston Villa to climb above Blackpool out of the relegation zone.

Birmingham City are still not safe, four points above the drop zone after another defeat, 2-1 at Newcastle United, but Sunderland are after their late 2-1 win at Bolton Wanderers.

CLASSY SILVA

Manchester City looked to have overcome their problems against Everton as they dominated the first half at Goodison Park.

David Silva looked a class above anyone else on the pitch and quickly set up Patrick Vieira, who blazed over the bar.

He was the provider again after 28 minutes when Yaya Toure lifted the ball over Tim Howard for a deserved lead. Silva sent Toure through again after an hour but this time Howard saved well to deny him a second and City paid a heavy price.

Sylvain Distin equalised against his former club when he headed in a Mikel Arteta free kick in the 65th minute and seven minutes later Phil Neville swung in a cross which Leon Osman thumped in with a magnificent header.