Fulham suffered an extra time loss to Bolton, while a Tim Howard-less Everton poured it on against Sheffield Wednesday. On Tuesday, Bobby Convey returned to the score sheet in style, but it wasn't enough to withstand a Fernando Torres hat trick.

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EVERTON FINISH WEDNESDAY CARLING HOPES
Frankie Simek started and played 90 minutes but Wednesday was helpless against a second half Toffees offense that put three goals past Lee Grant.

A scoreless first half saw an even affair with the Owls unflustered by the Everton attack and kept their guests occupied in their own defensive end.

The levees broke in the second half, however, with James McFadden's opening strike in the 59th minute. Ayegbeni Yakubu broke down the sideline on a counterattack and centered for McFadden who made no mistakes.

Wednesday replied with an effort from Graham Kavanagh, whose free kick flew just over the crossbar, and Glen Whelan missed wide from long distance.

McFadden would double his goal total in the 84th minute with a header and Yakubu put the third past Grant less than a minute later.

Scoring
EVE - James McFadden (Yakubu) 59'
EVE - James McFadden (Phil Neville)84'
EVE - Yakubu (James McFadden) 85'

Line-ups
SW - Lee Grant; Frank Simek, Richard Hinds, Richard Wood, Peter Gilbert, Wade Small, Glenn Whelan, Graham Kavanagh (Kenny Lunt 80'), Jermaine Johnson (Deon Burton 68'), Francis Jeffers (Akpo Sodje 72'), Marcus Tudgay

EVE - Stefan Wessels; Nuno Valente (Leighton Baines 64'), Joleon Lescott, Alan Stubbs, Phil Jagielka, Tony Hibbert (Phil Neville 45'), Lee Carsley, Leon Osman, Steven Pienaar, James McFadden, Yakubu

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FULHAM BOW OUT IN EXTRA TIME
Bolton were the first and last to score, with the winning goal coming in the form of Stelios Giannakopoulos' controversial extra time goal.

Fulham started three Americans, with Kasey Keller earning the nod in net, Carlos Bocanegra on the backline and Clint Dempsey putting duty in as the lone striker for the Cottagers.

Despite some early pressure from the home side, it was Bolton who came close early on when Mikel Alonso saw his deflected shot in the 18th skip just wide.

A little more than five minutes later, Keller saved Fulham when saved a goalward header, and a poor last touch from Daniel Braaten in the 25th allowed Keller to make an easy save on a one v one.

Bolton finally opened the scoring when Danny Guthrie volleyed home a failed Fulham clearance in the 56th minute.

Fulham head man Lawrie Sanchez gave Dempsey some help up front when he brought on Senegal forward Diomansy Kamara in the 62nd minute.

Dempsey will be wishing tomorrow that he had done better in the 67th when he muffed a shot he had worked free for.

Fulham did equalize in the 77th when David Healy converted on Seol Ki-Hyeon's long distance cross from the touchline.

Bocanegra was able to get a head on two different corners in extra time to no avail, leaving a tied game to be stolen by the visitors.

Fulham seemingly had a Healy goal incorrectly waved off, while Bolton would benefit from a non-call as Stelios appeared to have gained an advantage pushing past Paul Konchesky to finish past Keller.

Kamara had a great header saved brilliantly by Ali Habsi three minutes later, and four minutes from the whistle, Simon Davies skimmed the crossbar to give Fulham their last chance at sending the game to penalties.

Scoring
BOL - Danny Guthrie 56'
FUL - David Healy (Seol Ki-Hyeon) 77'
BOL - Stelios Giannakopoulos 112'

Line-ups
FUL - Kasey Keller; Paul Konchesky, Carlos Bocanegra, Aaron Hughes, Chris Baird (David Healy 72'), Seol Ki-Hyeon, Steven Davis, Hameur Bouazza (Diomansy Kamara 63'), Simon Davies, Danny Murphy, Clint Dempsey

BOL - Ali Al Habsi; Nicky Hunt, Gérald Cid, Danny Guthrie (Andranik Teymourian 109'), Abdoulaye Méïté, Lubomir Michalik, Christian Wilhelmsson, Mikel Alonso, Gavin McCann, Kevin Davies, Daniel Braaten (Stelios Giannakopoulos 107')

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BLACKBURN ROLL PAST BRUMMIES
Brad Friedel enjoyed a shutout at home versus Birmingham as his side put three second half goals past Richard Kingson to take the encounter 3-0.

Though the first half was a lively affair, it was borne of frustration with neither side able to convert any of their many chances. Blackburn would have 22 shots, including nine on goal, to Birmingham's two on goal and seven total.

David Bentley volleyed past Kingson in the 66th minute to open the scoring for Rovers and Matt Derbyshire doubled the lead on a penalty after his run was ruled to have been obstructed in the box.

Roque Santa Cruz added an insurance goal as time ran down in the second, and the Paraguayan could have added a second in extra time, but Blackburn were happy to advance with the three-goal margin.

Scoring
BLA - David Bentley (Tugay) 66'
BLA - Matt Derbyshire (PK) 82'
BLA - Roque Santa Cruz (Brett Emerton) 90+1'

Line-ups
BLA - Brad Friedel; André Ooijer, Christopher Samba, Tugay, Brett Emerton, David Bentley, Aaron Mokoena, David Dunn, Matt Derbyshire (Maceo Rigters 83'), Martin Olsson (Stephen Warnock 78'), Jason Roberts (Roque Santa Cruz 54')

BC - Richard Kingson (Colin Doyle 45'); Matthew Sadler, Rahdi Jaidi (Rafael Schmitz 56'), Rowan Vine, Stuart Parnaby, Martin Taylor, Damien Johnson, Neil Danns, Daniel de Ridder (Wilson Palacios 80'), Garry O'Connor, Mikael Forssell

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TORRES TRICK OUSTS READING
Reading more than contributed to an exhilarating six-goal spectacle at the Madejski, but were eliminated from the Carling Cup by a slick Liverpool side inspired by the luminous Fernando Torres.

The opening exchanges, played at a furious tempo, were dominated mainly by Liverpool. Sure enough, it was Yossi Benayoun who struck first for the away side, collecting one of Peter Crouch's many knockdowns before jinking past Andre Bikey and slamming the ball high into the net from 18 yards for his first Liverpool goal. Rather than heralding the opening of floodgates, however, the 23rd minute goal seemed to provoke Reading into action.

Liverpool are quite capable of defending a slender lead, but appeared uninterested in sitting back on this occasion. Unsurprisingly, with Reading flying forward and the game stretched, it took only five more minutes for another goal to arrive, this time courtesy of Philadelphia's own Bobby Convey.

From Nicky Shorey's corner, Mohammed Sissoko headed clear only for the ball to drop to Convey on the edge of the box. Wasting no time, the ex-DC United man crashed a superb volley into the bottom corner. Presumably out of admiration, the goal was allowed to stand despite several undeniably interfering Reading players being caught offside.

The match continued as it started: throbbing and pulsating until Torres grabbed his first just after halftime. Collecting a precise through ball from Sebastián Leto. The Spaniard did well to hold off a strong challenge before slotting coolly into the bottom corner.

Once again, though, Reading came up fighting and once again they struck from a Shorey set piece. Rafa Benitez' men failed to clear their lines, allowing John Halls to pounce for the equalizer from close range.

Reading's resistance was spirited to say the least, with Leroy Lita almost converting the best of their chances with an audacious overhead kick, but Liverpool's quality began to show increasingly as the match wore on. And so, with 20 minutes remaining, following a cutback by the marauding John Arne Riise, Torres showed great composure to side-foot into the roof of the net for his side's inevitable third.

Forced into a pressing game, Reading left themselves open to the counterattack in the closing minutes and were punished when Steven Gerrard found Torres bursting over the halfway line into acres of space. With all the time in the world, he baffled Hahnemann understudy Adam Federici into submission with a deft shimmy, strolling round him to pass into an empty net and secure the match ball.

Out of the Carling Cup they may be, but Convey and Reading put up an impressive fight against a side widely touted to compete for two or three major trophies this season, and should have no worries about climbing from the foot of the Premiership if they attack their upcoming, less illustrious opponents with as much vigor.

Scoring
LIV - Yossi Benayoun (Peter Crouch) 23'
REA - Bobby Convey 27'
LIV - Fernando Torres (Sebastián Leto) 50'
REA - John Halls 64'
LIV - Fernando Torres (John Arne Riise) 72'
LIV - Fernando Torres (Steven Gerrard) 86'

Line-ups
LIV - Charles Itandje; Fabio Aurélio (John Arne Riise 69'), Jamie Carragher, Álvaro Arbeloa, Steve Finnan, Sebastián Leto, Mohamed Sissoko, Lucas (Jack Hobbs 86'), Yossi Benayoun, Peter Crouch (Steven Gerrard 77'), Fernando Torres

REA - Adam Federeci; Ulises De La Cruz, Andre Bikey, Nicky Shorey, Michael Duberry, Emerson Fae, John Halls (Dave Kitson 80'), James Harper, Bobby Convey (James Henry 80'), Shane Long (Stephen Hunt 80'), Leroy Lita

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ON THE SIDELINE
Recovering defender Cory Gibbs missed out on a 3-1 extra time loss at Luton Town.