In a rough week for Americans in England: Fulham suffered another debilitating defeat at home to Sunderland, Reading took a Geordie punch to the kisser at Newcastle and Blackburn failed to gain traction the UEFA Cup race.

--------------------------
TOON RUMBLE THROUGH ROYALS
Reading's survival hopes took a hit while Newcastle's got yet another boost on Saturday, as the Magpies overpowered the Royals with a 3-0 win at St. James Park.

Marcus Hahnemann kept his usual place in goal for Reading, while Bobby Convey started on the bench before coming on as a substitute for John Oster in the 60th minute.

However, by that time there was little the left winger could have done to help the result, as every player in Newcastle's front line trio of Obafemi Martins, Michael Owen and Mark Viduka had already struck for Newcastle.

It was Martins that bagged the first, taking Nick Butt's pass by a few Newcastle defenders before finishing past Hahnemann in the 18th minute, while Owen added his just before the halftime interval.

Mark Viduka put things beyond all doubt after the break, with a cool finish in the 58th minute to seal the deal for the Toon.

The result puts Reading back to being perilously close to the drop zone, only six points above 18th place Bolton.

On the other hand, the result effectively ends Newcastle's relegation fears, as they leapfrog rivals Sunderland into a more comfortable mid-table position.

Scoring
NEWC - Obafemi Martins 8 (Nicky Butt) 18'
NEWC - Michael Owen 8 (Habib Beye) 43'
NEWC - Mark Viduka 7 (Habib Beye) 58'

Line-ups
NEWC - Steve Harper; Habib Beye, Abdoulaye Faye (Lamine Diatta 82'), Sanchez Jose Enrique, David Edgar, Nicky Butt (Alan Smith 79'), Geremi, Joey Barton, Mark Viduka (Damien Duff 74'), Michael Owen, Obafemi Martins

REA - Marcus Hahnemann; Nicky Shorey, Ivar Ingimarsson, Liam Rosenior, Andre Bikey, James Harper, Stephen Hunt, John Oster (Bobby Convey 60'), Kalifa Cisse (Emerse Fae 72'), Dave Kitson (Shane Long 72'), Kevin Doyle

--------------------------
ROVERS SHARE WITH SPURS
Blackburn's hopes of a European place next season faded by a little bit more as Rovers could only manage a 1-1 draw with Tottenham Hotspur.

Brad Friedel started as goalkeeper for Rovers, making six saves through his 90 minutes on the field.

Most of those saves came after the first 10 minutes, however, as Tottenham's first shot on goal via Dimitar Berbatov in the seventh minute resulted in the game's first goal.

There was little Friedel could have done to stop it, as the Bulgarian striker was left open at close range off a cross from Jermaine Jenas.

Blackburn fought back through a goal from Morten Gamst Pedersen some 20 minutes later, after which the two sides traded attacks in an entertaining encounter that only failed to deliver more goals.

Scoring
TOTT - Dimitar Berbatov 14 (Jermaine Jenas) 7'
BLA - Morten Gamst Pedersen 3 (David Bentley) 30'

Line-ups
BLA - Brad Friedel; Andre Ooijer (Brett Emerton 46'), Stephen Warnock, Ryan Nelsen, Christopher Samba, Steven Reid (Aaron Mokena 86'), Morten Gamst Pedersen (Benedict McCarthy 73'), Johann Vogel, David Bentley, Jason Roberts, Roque Santa Cruz

TOTT - Radek Cerny; Jonathan Woodgate, Michael Dawson, Pascal Chimbonda (Gilberto 72'), Alan Hutton, Jermaine Jenas, Steed Malbranque (Tom Huddlestone 72'), Didier Zokora, Aaron Lennon, Robbie Keane (Darren Bent 78'), Dimitar Berbatov

--------------------------
BLACK CATS CLAW FULHAM DOWN
Fulham's survival chances now look all but non-existent as the Cottagers got yet another bad result against yet another bad team in their 1-1 draw with fellow relegation strugglers Sunderland.

Kasey Keller and Brian McBride started the match for Fulham, with Clint Dempsey serving as a 62nd minute replacement for Paul Saltieri and Carlos Bocanegra an unused substitute. Eddie Johnson did not make the match day squad.

Strangely, in the first half it seemed like Sunderland was the team in desperation mode, as Fulham could barely mount an attack at all through the first 45 minutes.

Sunderland, meanwhile, kept pressure on Keller, and it paid off on the stroke of halftime as Danny Collins gave the visitors a 1-0 lead.

Michael Chopra doubled Sunderland's advantage 10 minutes after the interval, before David Healy finally gave the home fans an inch of hope with a monster 72nd minute strike.

A rally just wasn't to be, however, as just two minutes later Sunderland would put the result beyond doubt with a goal from Kenwyne Jones.

The result actually does a lot to help Sunderland's safety chances, while Fulham are left adrift a full six points from safety with just five games remaining.

Scoring
SUND - Danny Collins 1 (Daryl Murphy) 45'
SUND - Michael Chopra 5 (Kenwyne Jones) 54'
FUL - David Healy 4 72'
SUND - Kenwyne Jones 7 (Dean Whitehead) 74' 

Line-ups
FUL - Kasey Keller; Paul Konchesky, Aaron Hughes, Paul Stalteri (Clint Dempsey 62'), Brede Hangeland, Leon Andreasen (David Healy 57'), Jimmy Bullard, Danny Murphy, Simon Davies, Brian McBride, Diomansy Kamara (Hameur Bouazza 72')

SUND - Craig Gordon; Nyron Nosworthy, Danny Collins, Phillip Bardsley, Jonathan Evans, Andy Reid, Carlos Edwards (Michael Chopra 46'), Dean Whitehead, Kieran Richardson (Grant Leadbitter 57'), Daryl Murphy (Roy O'Donovan 87'), Kenwyne Jones

--------------------------
TOFFEES SQUEAK PAST DERBY
Full recap to follow...

--------------------------
HORNETS BACK IN PROMOTION MIX
Watford ended their nine-game winless streak to beat Coventry 2-1 and stay in the running for automatic promotion to the Premier League.

Jay DeMerit came on in the 86th minute to replace Lloyd Doyley at right back and helped guide the Hornets to a much-needed win.

Nathan Ellington fired Watford ahead in the seventh minute with a shot from the edge of the box, but the Sky Blues drew level just short of the hour mark when Leon Best nodded Julian Gray's center past Richard Lee from close range.

Tommy Smith netted the 79th minute clincher to hand the home team three points.

While the first half saw both teams trade shots, Coventry grew in confidence after their equalizer, and went on to enjoy the better of the second half.

The visitors caused Watford a number of problems, with substitute Michael Mifsud at right midfield particularly influential, but the game turned when the referee waved away appeals for a penalty from Best and Watford scored soon afterwards.

With 11 minutes to go, the Hornets stung the Sky Blues with their second goal. Ellington flicked a long punt over defender Stephen Hughes and Smith raced onto the loose ball to lash it home past Kaspar Schmeichel.

The fourth place Hornets move to within two points of leaders Bristol City and host losing FA Cup semifinalists Barnsley, 22nd in the Championship, on Wednesday.

Scoring
WAT - Nathan Ellington 4 (Tommy Smith) 7'
COV - Leon Best 7 (Julian Gray) 59'
WAT - Tommy Smith 6 (Nathan Ellington) 79'

Line-ups
WAT- Richard Lee, Lloyd Doyley (Jay DeMerit 86'), Leigh Bromby, Danny Shittu, Matthew Sadler, Tommy Smith, John-Joe O'Toole, Lee Williamson, Jobi McAnuff (Jordan Stewart 82'), Steven Kabba, Nathan Ellington (Adrian Mariappa 82')

COV - Kaspar Schmeichel, Richard Duffy (Michael Mifsud 46'), Daniel Fox, Scott Dann, Elliott Ward, Isaac Osbourne, Stephen Hughes, Michael Doyle, Julian Gray (Kevin Thornton 88), Leon Best, Robbie Simpson (Zavon Hines 72')

--------------------------
ON THE SIDELINE
Frank Simek remained in recovery as Sheffield Wednesday drew 1-1 with Scunthorpe.

Back-up keeper Matt Pickens watched from the bench as QPR played out a 2-2 share at Preston North End.

Charlton won 2-1 at Plymouth without rehabbing defender Cory Gibbs.

Zak Whitbread missed Millwall's 1-all draw with Gillingham with a shoulder fracture, and could be lost for the season.