Everton overcame stern opposition to walk out deserved winners in a 1-0 victory over Tony Pulis' Stoke.
David Moyes made a pre-match plea for his strikers to contribute more goals, and Yakubu answered the call, his 67th minute strike the difference between the sides at full time.
The Blues were lifted by the return of Mikel Arteta who made a last minute recovery from a hamstring injury to partner Johnny Heitinga in midfield.
And the Spaniard immediately found space in between Dean Whitehead and Marc Wilson as the Everton controlled the game early on.
The first real chance on goal came in the 14th minute when Yakubu sprung the offside trap to latch onto Steven Pienaar's through ball.
The Nigerian used to his strength to hold off back tracking defenders, but could only manage an uncharacteristically tame effort directly at Asmir Begovic.
Everton's African duo combined again in the 24th minute when a clever Yakubu back heel gave Pienaar the room to fire a long-range shot, but once more Begovic, who was in for the injured Thomas Sorenson, was untroubled.
As the opening half drew on the Toffees' play found rhythm with Mikel Arteta seeing more of the ball in midfield.
The Spaniard expertly found Phil Neville inside the Stoke penalty area with a slide-rule ball that even seemed to catch it's recipient by surprise.
The Blues' skipper could do little but turn and scuff a shot at goal as another Everton chance went begging.
Despite much of the action taking place in their own half, Stoke still remained a real threat from set-pieces, Abdulaye Faye wasted the best of Stokes first half opportunities when an Etherington corner ran untouched across Everton's box for the centre-half to shoot well wide.
A disciplined affair in the first half became a more open one in the second as Stoke looked to hit back on the break.
Steven Pienaar's soft loss of possession shortly after the break let in Marc Wilson who decided to ignore two team mates in space and go it alone, spooning horribly over the bar.
By far Everton's most potent combination this year has been Leighton Baines and Tim Cahill.
But took until the 51st minute for them to get it together when a characteristic pin-point cross from the left back found his Aussie team mate on the penalty spot.
Cahill's header was well blocked by Faye who did a good job of keeping Cahill quiet all afternoon.
Everton finally took the lead at the end of a frenetic 10 minute spell in which Stoke also had the ball in the net.
A scramble in Tim Howards six yard box in the 64th minute led to the ball rebounding off Leighton Baines and into his own net.
But Stoke celebrations were cut short by Lee Probert who adjudged there to have been pushing in the box.
Everton, shaken from their close shave, broke at the other end.
Yakubu robbed possession in the box from Abdulaye Faye after good work down the right from Steven Pienaar.
The striker set up Tim Cahill whose shot rattled the post and fell back into the path of the Nigerian, he found a yard inside the packed six yard box and smashed a left footed strike into the roof of the net.
The Blues held firm as Pulis' men threw long balls into the area in search of their equaliser.
But Phil Jagielka and Sylvain Distin snuffed out any danger, sealing the win and adding another clean sheet to their season's tally.
After the match Davd Moyes praised his goalscorer, who he said provided the moment of inspiration needed to unlock a tough match.
He said: “Sometimes you need somebody to do something to win you the game, like the Rooneys the Drogbas and the Torreses, and we probably needed Yak to do that today.
“He's scored a 'Yakubu goal' today, which is great to see. He's robbed the defender and laid a great set for Tim Cahill, and then when it fell back he's skipped his man and smashed one home.
“It was great for him, I think when you work hard, your fans and your team mates really appreciate it, and Yak's work has really improved recently.”
Everton now move to 7th in the league on 13 points.
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Everton (4-5-1): Howard, Jagielka, Distin, Baines, Neville, Coleman (Saha 61), Heitinga, Arteta, Pienaar, Cahill, Yakubu (Bilyaletdinov 85)
Subs: Mucha, Saha, Hibbert, Bilyaletdinov, Beckford, Gueye, Rodwell.
Stoke (4-5-1): Begovic, Huth, Shawcross, Collins, Jones, Wilson (Whelan 76), Whitehead, Walters (Pennant 75), Tuncay, Faye, Etherington
Subs: Nash, Higginbotham, Whelan, Gudjohnsen, Delap, Pennant, Wilkinson.
Goals:Yakubu 67
Yellow: Baines ('63), Wilson ('60)
Red:
Referee: Lee Probert
R/A's: T. Massey
A. Halliday
Att: 35, 513
By Aaron Sharp at Goodison Park.
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