Just hours after slipping into fifth place, Everton reclaimed the final Champions League spot with a 3-1 win over fellow European hopefuls Portsmouth, red hot striker Yakubu grabbing a brace.

The Nigerian netted the first and last goals of an entertaining game, Tim Cahill scoring in between to put Everton back into the lead after Jermain Defoe had brought Pompey level at 1-1.

The result served as the perfect tonic for Everton ahead of Thursday's UEFA Cup clash with Fiorentina, while Portsmouth's own European dreams were dealt a serious blow by the defeat.

Harry Redknapp's side remain in ninth place, nine points behind Everton.

An extraordinary start to the game saw Yakubu put the hosts into the lead after just 48 seconds. Straight from the kick-off, Lassana Diarra fouled the Nigerian and from the resulting free-kick, Yakubu capitalised on some uncertain defending to nod past David James and notch his 11th Premier League goal of the season.

Pompey failed to recover from such an early body blow for much of the remainder of the first half, and their play was littered with inaccurate passing and some shaky defending.

Harry Redknapp's side only seemed to settle once Defoe had claimed the equaliser in the 38th minute, although whether it was actually the England striker's goal at all was questionable. Glen Johnson could easily have the goal accredited to him as it was unclear if Defoe got anything at all on the full-back's dangerous cross into the box.

With the game evenly poised after the restart, the crowd began to chant the name of Andrew Johnson, and they got their wish after 66 minutes when David Moyes sent on the striker to replace Tony Hibbert.

The change proved to be the turning point of the match, and Johnson's pace and enthusiasm provided the catalyst that Everton needed to go in search of the winner.

The England international was left on the bench from the start due to an illness, but he showed no signs of being under the weather when he finished past James three minutes after his introduction. That his effort was ruled out for offside against Yakubu was of little import - Everton could sense victory.

It was Cahill who restored the Toffees' lead on 73 minutes, the Australian athletically leaping to get to Steven Pienaar's cross and beat James with a firm header.

And then Yakubu grabbed his second of the day and his 20th in total for the season with nine minutes remaining, cutting inside Sol Campbell and firing into the back of the net.

Mike Hytner / Eurosport