With these teams having combined for one victory in their last nine games, there was little surprise to see this match end in a draw. A drab spectacle was brought to life in first-half injury time when Tim Cahill's looping cross found its way to Diniyar Bilyaletdinov, and the Russian produced a composed low finish from 15 yards to give Everton the lead. Villa's half-time substitute John Carew needed all of 50 seconds to make an impact. The Norwegian scored his fourth goal in five league games against Everton when he fired home a rebound after Tim Howard had saved a low strike from Gabriel Agbonlahor. After this excitement either side of the break, the game settled into a pattern. Carew saw his flicked effort held by Howard with eight minutes left, but neither team deserved three points. Bilyaletdinov was sent off for a bad tackle in injury time, before Villa's Carlos Cuellar also saw red for a second yellow card. Man of the match: John Carew (Aston Villa)
Ten-man Sunderland showed wonderful battling qualities to earn a point after trailing West Ham 2-1 and a man down at the break at the Stadium of Light. Kieran Richardson earned the home team a point 14 minutes from time with a close-range finish from Darren Bent's cross. Earlier, Guillermo Franco has scored his first goal for the visitors after 30 minutes. Jack Collison broke the offside trap down the right before firing in a low cross for Franco to sidefoot home. And Collison was again the provider six minutes later when he played in Carlton Cole, who calmly beat Craig Gordon in the Sunderland goal. The advantage lasted only two minutes as Andy Reid curled a delightful left-footed free-kick into the top corner of the Hammers' net. But Sunderland suffered a self-inflicted blow just before half-time when Kenwyne Jones was given a straight red card for shoving Herita Ilunga. West Ham's Radoslav Kovac was sent off with three minutes left. Man of the match: Jack Collison (West Ham)
Two goals from Graham Alexander gave Burnley a win over Hull to increase the pressure on Tigers manager Phil Brown. Hull's former chairman Adam Pearson returned to the boardroom yesterday after a week-long power struggle at the KC Stadium, and is widely expected to relieve Brown of his duties as his first act in power. Alexander's first goal was a penalty for a contentious foul by Stephen Hunt on Tyrone Mears after 20 minutes and his second was a thunderous effort from just outside the area with 13 minutes left. The Brazilian midfielder Geovanni was sent off for Hull after two yellow cards within five minutes, the first for disputing a disallowed goal when his free-kick sailed into a top corner and the second for unsporting behaviour. Man of the match: Graham Alexander (Burnley)
A hat-trick from Aruna Dindane gave Portsmouth a much-needed confidence boost in their fight against relegation. His goals, coupled with an effort from Frederic Piquionne, secured a comfortable win over a disappointing Wigan side at Fratton Park. It was only their second league win of the season, and their first in front of their own supporters. Dindane put Pompey ahead after 35 minutes with a low shot from just inside the area and Piquionne doubled the advantage in first- half stoppage time when he was set up by Dindane. Dindane turned in a cross from Kanu after 64 minutes and rounded off the match in style by scoring from the penalty spot in stoppage time when Emmerson Boyce felled Kanu in the area. Man of the match: Aruna Dindane (Portsmouth)
Jody Craddock scored twice at Britannia Stadium to end Stoke's bid of winning three consecutive Premier League games for the first time, as Wolves fought valiantly back from 2-0 down to grab an away draw. It was a tale of two halves as the hosts had secured a two-goal advantage at half-time only to see their former central defender Craddock neutralise it with a double in the 47th and 64th minutes. An own goal from Wolves defender George Elokobi in the 17th minute set the tempo for the hosts. Elokobi could only turn a cross from Matthew Etherington into his own net when under pressure from James Beattie. Then Etherington volleyed home a cracker from 18 yards to leave Stoke in command, before Craddock's heroics. Man of the match: Jody Craddock (Wolves)
