Everton secured a controversial 1-0 victory over Sunderland on Sunday to maintain pressure on Liverpool in the race for the fourth Champions League spot.

Everton dominated the chances throughout the game but Sunderland held on to the clean sheet till the 55th minute when Andrew Johnson gave them a controversial lead. The hosts almost equalized late in the game but Tim Howard made sure that his side collected all three points from the match.

Chances were few and far between in the first half with Phil Jagielka directing a tame header straight to Craig Gordon while Sunderland's first chance of the match fell to Dean Whitehead who scuffled his shot from the edge of the area.

Everton almost took the lead near the end of the first half when Tim Cahill's header was deflected onto the post by Anthony Stokes while Johnson failed to convert from the rebound. The visitors finally took the lead 10 minutes into the second half albeit in a controversial manner.

Both Cahill and Johnson raced forward to meet a curling cross by Mikel Arteta and the ball looked to have deflected into the goal from Johnson's arm. Sunderland pressed forward in search of the equalizer and Kieran Richardson went close minutes later.

Everton hung on to the clean sheet but their efforts almost came for nothing deep in injury time had it not been for a brilliant save by Howard to keep out Andy Reid's curling free kick.