Everton moved to fifth in the league table with a convincing 1-0 victory over Manchester City in their Premier League clash on Saturday.

Joleon Lescott scored the only goal of the match on the half hour mark after Tim Cahill missed a glorious opportunity to put his side in the lead. The Toffees created a host of chances in the first half and though Man City came back strongly in the second, they were unable to break down a stubborn Everton defense.

The hosts started the game without two of their key players, Yakubu and Joseph Yobo, who were off on international duty. However Everton rallied up and soon assumed control of the match in the first half.

The first real chance of the match fell to Tim Cahill in the 24th minute when the Australian midfielder latched on to a flick on by Victor Anichebe and drove the ball towards the target. Joe Hart was alert to pull off a low save and Cahill had a great chance to break the deadlock on the rebound but somehow managed to shoot high over the bar.

Everton took the lead in the 31st minute when Arteta found Lescott with a perfect cross and the defender smashed the ball past Hart and into the net.

Manchester City pressed forward in the second half but though the visitors dominated the possession, they were unable to create any real chances allowing Everton to sit back and soak up the pressure until the final whistle to claim a second successive league win.