Everton draws 1-1 with Birmingham, hurting chance of fourth place

LONDON, April 13: Everton missed the chance to draw level with Liverpool in the race for fourth place - and the final Champions League spot - drawing 1-1 at Birmingham in the Premier League.

Mauro Zarate scored the equalizer for Birmingham with a free kick in the 83rd minute, in answer to Joleon Lescott's 78th-minute header. The draw lifted Everton to 61 points, two less than fourth-place Liverpool.

Birmingham's draw also helped relegation-threatened Bolton and Fulham, who both picked up valuable wins. Bolton beat West Ham 1-0, with Fulham winning 2-0 at Reading for its first away victory in the league since September 2006.

Birmingham has 31 points for 17th place, followed by Bolton with 29 and Fulham with 27.

Aston Villa beat already-relegated Derby 6-0 with six different goal scorers. Derby's only league win this season was in September.

In other results, it was: Sunderland 1, Manchester City 2; Tottenham 1, Middlesbrough 1; and Portsmouth 0, Newcastle 0.

Manchester United leads the league with 77 points, followed by Chelsea with 74 and Arsenal with 71.

Aston Villa started its goal rush by scoring twice in two minutes.

Ashley Young gave Villa the lead in the 25th minute when Derby goalkeeper Roy Carroll failed to clear his free kick while under pressure from Olof Mellberg. John Carew then scored from 20 metres in the 26th.

Stilian Petrov made it 3-0 in the 36th minute, chesting a goal kick from Carroll onto his left foot and scoring from 50 meters. Gareth Barry tapped the ball into goal in the 58th when Gabriel Agbonlahor's initial shot was saved by Carroll.

Agbonlahor then got on the score sheet with a low shot in the 76th, before Marlon Harewood finished off the rout in the 85th.

It's the third time this season that Derby has conceded six goals - it lost 6-0 to Liverpool in September and 6-1 to Chelsea in March. It was Villa's biggest away win in the league for 37 years - it beat Oldham 6-0 in the old third division in 1971.

Manchester City striker Darius Vassell scored his side's winner in the 87th minute with a scrappy shot that got past Sunderland goalkeeper Craig Gordon.

City had taken the lead with a 79th-minute penalty kick from Elano, after Nyron Nosworthy tripped Daniel Sturridge. Dean Whitehead levelled for Sunderland in the 81st with a volley.

Sunderland is in 14th place, seven points above Bolton. Fulham won with goals from Brian McBride and Erik Nevland. McBride scored from close range in the 24th after taking a cross from Simon Davies, who also set up Nevland's goal in the 90th.

Bolton won for the first time in nine matches through a 47th-minute goal from Kevin Davies after a corner.

Tottenham went ahead in the 27th minute when Aaron Lennon's volley hit Middlesbrough defender Jonathan Grounds for an own goal. Middlesbrough levelled in the 69th when Stewart Downing's shot was deflected in off the head of Dimitar Berbatov