Juninho back with a Brazilian bang

Middlesbrough 1 Everton 1

The Riverside celebrated a Juninho comeback goal but it was Everton who had the greater cause for satisfaction, the team of grafters David Moyes has so skilfully moulded into an effective accumulator of points achieving enough to move ahead of Chelsea and into Champions' League territory.

Moyes was disappointed not to have won, annoyed with his team for failing to take full reward after fending off most of what the home side threw at them. His sense of perspective tells him, however, that his side probably are not yet ready for such dizzy heights.

"We have a lot of big games to come," he said. "I'm not looking at Europe as a target yet. We achieved our first objective by making ourselves safe from relegation. The next is to get enough points to finish in the top half of the table. Then we might look at the top six."

If Everton are over-achieving it is because the players all work relentlessly in support of one another, none more so than the unsung Steve Watson, whose goal threatened to win the game before Juninho, sent on at half-time with his side trailing, made it a happy afternoon for the home crowd as well as those from Merseyside.

Juninho, whose appearance for Boro's reserves on Tuesday attracted 19,500 spectators, suffered cruciate ligament damage during a tournament in Italy last summer, which is why his third Boro debut has been so long delayed. Coincidentally, his last Premiership game had been against Everton in May 2000, when he scored in a 2-0 win.

"He was a bit rusty but it was great to see him back on the field and even better to see him score," McClaren said. If his appearance did not transform the game, it at least helped provide balance after Everton had dominated the opening half and scored after 23 minutes.

Tomasz Radzinski effortlessly brushed aside Chris Riggott – one of three players making their home debuts – on a run into the box. With five defenders on hand the home side still should have cleared, but, after the Canadian had passed across the face of goal, Kevin Campbell was able to turn and find Watson, who scooped the ball past Mark Schwarzer for his sixth goal of the season.

It was just the kind of start Everton, with their rock-solid gameplan, had hoped for. Yesterday they had a back-four comprising four centre-halves, deployed full-backs as wide midfielders alongside the willing workhorses Scot Gemmill and Thomas Gravesen. Hardly a team to set pulses racing, but industrious and efficient all the same.

Aware of Chelsea's defeat at Newcastle, they knew what they had to do to claim fourth place in the Premiership, and, much as Middlesbrough sought to stretch them, it was quickly clear they would find few opportunities to hit back.

Troubled by that thought, McClaren made changes in personnel and tactics at half-time. Off went both Riggott and Malcolm Christie to be replaced with Ugo Ehiogu and Massimo Maccarone, while Colin Cooper gave way to Juninho and a 3-5-2 formation was replaced with 4-3-1-2.

For the next 30 minutes, Boro were the side going forward but Everton's blue lines refused to lose their symmetry and Juninho, for all that the home crowd was willing him to make an impact, found Gemmill doggedly tracking his every move. The reaction in the stadium was predictably joyful then when, 16 minutes from time, Michael Ricketts fed Maccarone on the right and the Italian's low cross found the Brazilian free to thump the ball into the net.

Wayne Rooney made his customary appearance late in the game and might have stolen Juninho's thunder after being sent goalwards in stoppage time. But he was denied a clean strike as Gareth Southgate made just enough of a tackle to force the youngster to squirt his shot fractionally wide.

Middlesbrough 1
Juninho 74

Everton 1
Watson 23

Half-time: 0-1 Attendance: 32,473