Eddie Lewis and Derby fell short after a valiant effort against Manchester United, Brian McBride second half goal earned Fulham a much-needed win against Everton and Jonathan Spector helped West Ham fight back against Blackburn.

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UNITED OUTLAST DERBY TO GO TOP
Derby County's torrid run of form this season got expectedly worse on Saturday, as Manchester United ran out of Pride Park 1-0 winners.

Eddie Lewis made his return to the starting lineup for Derby, playing the full 90 at left wing in the defeat. Benny Feilhaber, however, did not dress.

The close scoreline was actually somewhat deceiving, as United played well and created chances throughout. Ryan Giggs, Wayne Rooney and Park Ji-Sung all missed crucial chances before Cristiano Ronaldo finally put United ahead in the 78th minute.

Derby mustered up as much of an attack as they could at the end, but it was all for naught as they suffered yet another defeat to further bury them in the Premier League cellar.

The Rams will now head to Middlesbrough next weekend.

Scoring
MU - Cristiano Ronaldo 22 (Wayne Rooney) 76'

Line-ups
DC - Roy Carroll; Marc Edworthy (Andy Todd 55'), Darren Moore, Dean Leacock, James McEveley, Robbie Savage, Mile Sterjovski (Laurent Robert 83'), Eddie Lewis, David Jones, Robert Earnshaw (Emanuel Villa 77'), Kenny Miller

MU - Ben Foster; John O'Shea, Wes Brown, Patrice Evra, Nemanja Vidic, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes (Michael Carrick 62'), Cristiano Ronaldo, Anderson (Darren Fletcher 74'), Wayne Rooney, Park Ji-Sung (Louis Saha 62')

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ROYALS FALL AT ANFIELD
Reading's run of good form came to a disappointing but still expected close on Saturday, as the Royals fell 2-1 to Liverpool despite scoring a crucial early goal.

Marcus Hahnemann started and played the full 90 as usual, while Bobby Convey did not make the match day squad.

Reading got off to a flying start after only five minutes, as Marek Matejovsky fired a rocket shot from the top of the area after a deceptively taken free kick from the corner by John Oster.

Liverpool replied with a long-range cracker of their own, as Javier Mascherano scored his first goal for the club in an eerily similar position and method to the afternoon's opener.

Ryan Babel then gave Reading further trouble on two occasions; the first coming after the Dutchman cut in from the left and fired, forcing Hahnemann into a difficult save. The second came just moments later as he tapped the ball past Hahnemann on a well-placed cross, but the goal was called back for offside.

Liverpool finally had their way after halftime, as Fernando Torres continued his recent hot streak by burying Steven Gerrard's free kick in the 48th minute to put Liverpool ahead.

Reading next play host to fellow survivalists Birmingham.

Scoring
REA - Marek Matejovsky 1 (John Oster) 5'
LIV - Javier Mascherano 1 (Ryan Babel) 15'
LIV - Fernando Torres 20 (Steven Gerrard) 48'

Line-ups
LIV - Pepe Reina; Jamie Carragher, Fabio Aurelio, Alvaro Arbeloa, Martin Skrtel, Steven Gerrard (Sami Hyypia 90'), Xabi Alonso, Javier Mascherano, Dirk Kuyt (Yossi Benayoun 80'), Fernando Torres, Ryan Babel (John Arne Riise 83')

REA - Marcus Hahnemann; Nicky Shorey, Ivar Ingimarsson, Liam Rosenior, Andre Bikey, James Harper, Stephen Hunt, John Oster (Jimmy Kebe 72), Marek Matejovsky (Kalifa Cissé 74), Kevin Doyle, Shane Long (Dave Kitson 63)

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HAMMERS RALLY PAST BLACKBURN
West Ham United finally ended their run of successive 4-0 defeats with a solid display and a 2-1 home win over Blackburn.

Jonathan Spector started and played the full 90 in defense for the Hammers, who improve their chances of European qualification with the win over their similarly-placed opponents.
Brad Friedel, as usual, played the whole match between the sticks for the less fortunate Rovers.

It looked as if Blackburn would control the game from the outset, passing well and controlling the game, culminating in Roque Santa Cruz's 19th minute opener.

However, from there, Rovers let their foot off the gas slightly and West Ham controlled proceedings.

Dean Ashton netted the equalizer six minutes before the interval, while teenage debutant Fred Sears enjoyed a miracle start to his career, heading past Friedel late to secure a vital three points for West Ham.

Rovers will try to recover against regional rivals Wigan next weekend, while West Ham travel to face Tim Howard's Everton.

Scoring
BLA - Roque Santa Cruz 12 19'
WHU - Dean Ashton 6 39'
WHU - Fred Sears 1 81'

Line-ups
WHU - Robert Green; Lucas Neill, George McCartney, Anton Ferdinand, Jonathan Spector, Hayden Mullins, Scott Parker (Mark Noble 75'), Fredrik Ljungberg (John Pantsil 88'), Nolberto Solano (Fred Sears 75'), Dean Ashton, Bobby Zamora

BLA - Brad Friedel; Andre Ooijer, Stephen Warnock, Christopher Samba, Steven Reid, David Dunn (Matt Derbyshire 71'), Morten Gamst Pedersen (Benedict McCarthy 90'), Brett Emerton (Zurab Khizanishvili 46'), David Bentley, Jason Roberts, Roque Santa Cruz

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MCBRIDE STRIKE DOWNS EVERTON
Fulham defeated Everton 1-0 on Saturday at Craven Cottage to keep their hopes of staying in the EPL alive. A goal from American Brian McBride in the 67th minute won the match for the Whites.

Jimmy Bullard had Fulham's first chance of the match from 20-yards out, but it did not trouble Everton's American keeper Tim Howard.

Fulham continued to control the game and Simon Davies chipped a pass to McBride, whose left-footed volley just went past the far post.

Everton's poor start continued when star striker Andrew Johnson had to be subbed out for Tony Hibbert in the 14th minute due to problems with his ankle.

American goalkeeper Kasey Keller was not challenged until the 24th minute when the Toffees Steven Pienaar put the ball on goal but it bounced wide of the upright.

The game continued with missed chances and some poor passing until the 42nd minute when the Toffees almost went up a goal. Pienaar and Phil Neville played the ball down the right flank to find Ayegbeni Yakubu in the box and the Nigerian put a powerful shot on goal that Keller palmed to safety.

American forward Eddie Johnson won a corner for Fulham shortly thereafter. Bullard took the kick and found Johnson, who headed it over the bar from six yards out. Davies then headed a Bullard corner over the bar a few minutes later as well.

Fulham captain McBride was the hero of the match and his goal in the 67th minute showed Fulham fans they can still stay up. Davies sent an excellent cross from the left flank and the American striker headed it into the net to put Fulham up 1-0.

Fulham was able to hold on to the lead to secure an important three points. Americans Carlos Bocanegra came into the match in the 74th minute and Clint Dempsey came into the match in the 88th minute.

Fulham is in 19th place and are four points away from getting out of the relegation zone. They travel to St. James' Park on March 22nd to take on Newcastle.

Scoring
FUL - Brian McBride 2 (Simon Davies) 67'

Line-ups
FUL - Kasey Keller; Paul Konchesky, Aaron Hughes, Paul Stalteri, Brede Hangeland, Leon Andreasen, Jimmy Bullard (Moritz Volz 85'), Danny Murphy (Carlos Bocanegra 74'), Simon Davies, Brian McBride (Clint Dempsey 88'), Eddie Johnson

EVE - Tim Howard; Joleon Lescott, Phil Neville, Joseph Yobo, Phil Jagielka, Lee Carsley, Leon Osman, Mikel Arteta, Steven Pienaar (Leighton Baines 64'), Andrew Johnson (Tony Hibbert 14'), Ayegbeni Yakubu

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HORNETS HELD BY STOKE
Watford didn't do much to help their promotion cause, but they didn't do much to hurt it either as the Hornets played to a scoreless draw with Stoke City.

Jay DeMerit started and played the full 90 in the match, which sees Watford drop out of the top two automatic promotion spots, while Stoke takes pole position in the league.

The teams played about as even as their points would indicate, though things got a bit harder for Watford after John Eustace was sent off in the 51st minute after a harsh challenge.

The Hornet's luck didn't improve much from there - Darius Henderson missed his second penalty kick in a week just three minutes after the card.

Watford now head to Plymouth on Saturday.

Line-ups
WAT - Richard Lee; Leigh Bromby, Dan Shittu, Jay DeMerit, Mathew Sadler, Tommy Smith, John Eustace, John-Joe O'Toole, Jobi McAnuff, Darius Henderson, Collins John (Lee Williamson 46')

SC - Carlo Nash; Chris Riggott, Leon Cort (Paul Gallagher 46'), Ryan Shawcross, Andy Griffin, Richard Cresswell, Rory Delap, Carl Dickinson (Danny Pugh 53'), Glenn Whelan, Ricardo Fuller, Jay Bothroyd (Salif Diao 59')

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ORIENT EDGES OUT MILLWALL
Millwall fell to Leyton Orient 1-0 at The New Den on Saturday afternoon, ending their two-game win streak.

Millwall's Ryan Smith had some open space in a good position for the Lions late in the first half, but he was brought down by Brian Saah, who received a yellow for the challenge.

The O's went ahead in the 50th minute of the match when John Melligan found an unmarked Wayne Gray. The former Wimbledon forward put it in the net for his fifth goal of the season.

Millwall's Marc Laird received a red card in the 58th minute for a bad challenge on Melligan.

American Zak Whitbread almost equalized the game for the Lions in the 81st minute, but Glenn Morris made a great save.

Millwall had an appeal for a penalty ignored minutes later after Paul Robinson and then Bas Savage was fouled.

Jabo Ibehre almost put the O's up 2-0 in stoppage time, but his shot went off the woodwork.

Millwall is in 18th place and travel to Oldham Athletic on Friday.

Scoring
LO - Wayne Gray 5 (John Melligan) 50'

MW - Rhys Evans; Paul Robinson, Danny Senda, Zak Whitbread, Andy Frampton, Ryan Smith, Marc Laird, Ali Fuseini, Jay Simpson (Neil Harris 75'), David Martin (Ahmet Brkovic 55'), Bas Savage

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DONS STROLL BACK TO TOP
MK Dons defeated Dagenham & Redbridge 4-0 at stadium:mk to reclaim their place at the top of the League Two table. Aaron Wilbraham scored two goals from Dons in his return from injury.

The hosts wasted no time as American forward Jemal Johnson and John Miles worked the ball on the left side and then got it to Dean Lewington, who crossed it from the corner of the box. The cross found Wilbraham, who put it in the net for a 1-0 lead.

Dons struck again only seven minutes later, this time through Lloyd Dyer. Johnson found space and got the ball to Dyer, whose left-footed shot from about seven yards out found the goal.

Wilbraham scored his second of the match in the 37th minute when Dyer chipped the ball to the far post and he easily headed it into the goal.

Substitute Kevin Gallen scored Dons fourth goal in the 82nd minute. Wilbraham got the ball to Gallen inside the box and the former QPR striker's low left-footed shot beat his former QPR teammate Tony Roberts.

The victors are tied with Peterborough at the top of the table, but have played one less game than the Posh. Dons host the Posh in an important match on March 21st.

Scoring
MKD - Aaron Wilbraham 4 (Dean Lewington) 3'
MKD - Lloyd Dyer 10 (Jemal Johnson) 10'
MKD - Aaron Wilbraham 5 (Lloyd Dyer) 37'
MKD - Kevin Gallen 8 82'

MKD - Willy Guéret; Sean O'Hanlon, Drissa Diallo, Dean Lewington, Jude Stirling, Keith Andrews, Colin Cameron (Jake Livermore 63'), Lloyd Dyer, Aaron Wilbraham, John Miles (Kevin Gallen 63'), Jemal Johnson (Sam Baldock 81')

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ON THE SIDELINE
Cory Gibbs remains in recovery and missed Charlton's 2-0 loss at Ipswich.

Sheffield Wednesday drew 0-0 at Coventry without injured defender Frank Simek.

Back-up keeper Matt Pickens watched from the pine as QPR posted a 3-1 win over Scunthorpe.