London, March 31:

Liverpool took control of the fight for fourth place in the Premier League with a 1-0 win over city rival Everton on Sunday.

While Chelsea were in second place after a 1-0 win over visiting Middlesbrough, Liverpool moved five points clear of their neighbour through Fernando Torres’ 28th goal of the season. Torres scored in the seventh minute at Anfield to lift the Reds to 62 points from 31 games, with Everton back in fifth and now struggling to clinch a Champions League qualifying spot.

Liverpool got their early breakthrough when Yakubu Ayegbeni lost possession on the edge of his own area and Dirk Kuyt prodded the ball through to Torres inside the area. Torres hit a right-foot shot past goalkeeper Tim Howard into the far corner.

Chelsea defender Ricardo Carvalho scored in the sixth minute to lift the Blues back above Arsenal and to within five points of leader Manchester United. Chelsea now has 71 points, one more than the Gunners. Newcastle seemingly ended any danger of relegation with a surprise 4-1 win at Tottenham. Spurs took a 26th-minute lead through striker Darren Bent but Nicky Butt, Geremi, Michael Owen and Obafemi Martins scored to give the Magpies a first away win since December.

Newcastle now has 35 points, nine clear of the three-team relegation zone, while Tottenham seems destined to finish in 11th place. With six games remaining, it is five points behind 10th-place West Ham and four ahead of 12th-place Newcastle.

Spanish La Liga

Madrid: Real Madrid increased its lead at the top the Spanish league by beating Sevilla 3-1 on Sunday.

Gabriel Heinze, Raul Gonzalez and Gonzalo Higuain scored to help Madrid snap a two-game home losing streak. Frederic Kanoute scored for Sevilla. Madrid lead the league with 65 points, followed by Villarreal with 59 and FC Barcelona with 58. Barcelona surrendered a two-goal lead to lose at Real Betis 3-2 on Saturday, and Villarreal moved ahead of the Catalans after routing Atletico Madrid 3-0.

Racing Santander increased their chances of playing in the Champions League next season by beating Espanyol 3-0. Oscar Serrano and Pedro Munitis scored first-half goals and substitute Ivan Bolado added the other to put Santander level with fourth-place Atletico Madrid, both with 50 points.

Only the top four teams in the Spanish league qualify.

Also on Sunday, it was: Valencia 0, Mallorca 3; Almeria 2, Levante 1; Valladolid 2, Zaragoza 1; Getafe 0, Osasuna 2; Recreativo Huelva 1, Athletic Bilbao 1; and Deportivo La Coruna 3, Murcia 1.