Derby County saw their Premiership fate sealed in a draw with Fulham, while Brad Friedel and Marcus Hahnemann posted matching clean sheets at Ewood Park.

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FULHAM DRAW SENDS RAMS DOWN
A 2-2 result seemed like a loss for both Fulham and Derby County on Saturday, as it saw the Rams' relegation mathematically confirmed, while also keeping Fulham waiting for their first away victory in over a full season.

Naturally there were a plethora of Americans involved in the match, with Kasey Keller and Brian McBride starting for Fulham, while Eddie Lewis did likewise for Derby. Eddie Johnson made a late cameo, while Clint Dempsey and Carlos Bocanegra all rode the bench for the Cottagers, and Benny Feilhaber was an unused sub for the Rams.

Fulham somehow sank below what must have been their worst expectations against a woeful Derby side that sits in the Premier League cellar, giving up a goal to the Rams' Emanuel Villa after only 10 minutes.

Luckily, Diomansy Kamara was able to equalize just 14 minutes later, while Hameur Bouazza's 78th minute rocket deflected off of Derby defender Dean Leacock and into the back of the net, seemingly assuring Fulham of a vital three points in their survival battle.

However, the away support hadn't even ceased celebrating before Villa struck again, with Villa making a well-timed run and solid finish from a Mile Sterjovski cross.

The introduction of Johnson and Danny Murphy after the goal did little to change things, and Fulham now find themselves six points from a Premier League safety place with as many games to go.

Fulham are now winless on the road in a Premiership record 33 games, having not won away since September of 2006.

Scoring
DC - Emmanuel Villa 2 10'
FUL - Diomansy Kamara 3 24'
FUL - (Own Goal) Dean Leacock 78'
DC - Emmanuel Villa 3 (Mile Sterjovski) 80'

Line-ups
DC - Roy Carroll; Darren Moore, Andy Todd (Tyrone Mears 89'), Dean Leacock, Robbie Savage, Mile Sterjovski, Eddie Lewis, Hossam Ghaly, David Jones, Kenny Miller (Robert Earnshaw 36'), Emanuel Villa

FUL - Kasey Keller; Paul Konchesky, Aaron Hughes, Paul Stalteri, Brede Hangeland, Leon Andreasen, Jimmy Bullard (Danny Murphy 81'), Simon Davies, Brian McBride, Diomansy Kamara, Hameur Bouazza (Eddie Johnson 81')

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ROVERS, ROYALS END SCORELESS
The showdown of bald-headed American goalkeepers ended in a stalemate on Saturday, though it's a stalemate both netminders will be happy with as they kept clean sheets in the 0-0 draw between Reading and Blackburn.

Brad Friedel and Marcus Hahnemann both started and played the full 90 in goal for their respective sides, while Reading's Bobby Convey was an unused substitute.

Though both keepers will be satisfied with the shutout, it's not as if either of them did much to earn it through the first 70 minutes, as play from both sides was slow, uninspired and completely bereft of any attacking quality.

Strangely enough, it took the loss of a player to kick both teams' offenses into high gear, as the game saw nearly half its shots created after the sending off of Reading midfielder Marek Matejovsky.

Friedel did well to stop a late Andre Bikey header, while Hahnemann pulled off an impressive point blank save on the in-form Roque Santa Cruz.

Line-ups
REA - Marcus Hahnemann; Nicky Shorey, Ivar Ingimarsson, Liam Rosenior, Andre Bikey, James Harper, Stephen Hunt, John Oster (Shane Long 77'), Marek Matejovsky, Dave Kitson (Kalifa Cisse 76'), Kevin Doyle

BLA - Brad Friedel; Zurab Khizanishvili, Andre Ooijer (Benedict McCarthy 82'), Stephen Warnock, Ryan Nelsen, Steven Reid, David Dunn (Matt Derbyshire 86'), Morten Gamst Pedersen, David Bentley, Jason Roberts, Roque Santa Cruz

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BLACK CATS NIP WEST HAM
Sunderland took a massive step towards Premier League safety on Saturday, defeating West Ham United by a 2-1 scoreline at home.

Jonathan Spector started and played the full 90 in defense for the Hammers, who had little to play for on the night as they sit mid-table, equally far away from European qualification as they are from the relegation zone.

That said, West Ham did come out strong in the first half, as Fredrik Ljungberg pounced on a loose ball in the box to give the Hammers a 1-0 lead in the 18th minute.

Sunderland looked shocked, but were still able to hold their own throughout the rest of the match, creating the bulk of the better scoring opportunities. They were finally able to finish one of them when Kenwyne Jones tapped the ball in from close range after a good flick by Daryl Murphy.

The winning goal came in dramatic fashion, as Andy Reid hit a powerful volley in second half stoppage time to hand three points to the Black Cats.

Scoring
WHU - Fredrik Ljungberg 2 (Carlton Cole) 18'
SUN - Kenwyne Jones 6 (Daryl Murphy) 29'
SUN - Andy Reid 6 90'

Line-ups
SUND - Craig Gordon; Nyron Nosworthy, Danny Collins, Phillip Bardsley, Jonathan Evans, Andy Reid, Dean Whitehead, Kieran Richardson (Carlos Edwards 70'), Daryl Murphy (Roy O'Donovan 81'), Michael Chopra (Grant Leadbitter 71'), Kenwyne Jones

WHU - Robert Green; Lucas Neill, George McCartney [John Pantsil 46' (James Tompkins 74')], Anton Ferdinand, Jonathan Spector, Hayden Mullins, Scott Parker, Fredrik Ljungberg, Mark Noble, Dean Ashton, Carlton Cole (Nolberto Solano 65')

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REDS COMPLETE DERBY SWEEP
Everton's hopes of a fourth place finish were dealt a major blow on Sunday as an in-form Liverpool side eked out a 1-0 home win in the season's second Merseyside derby.

Tim Howard started and played the full 90 for the Toffees, who will likely have to content themselves with holding off Portsmouth for a UEFA Cup place through the rest of the season.

The winning goal came early, as goal monster Fernando Torres broke through the Everton defense and slotted the ball past Howard to give Liverpool a 1-0 lead.

The rest of the first half was all Liverpool as well, though they could not capitalize on any of their numerous scoring chances to put the game beyond all doubt before the second half even began.

As it was, the second half was an all-Everton affair, as the Blues dominated possession, but also failed to make that possession count in any meaningful way - the Toffees only managed two shots on goal with four chances from corner kicks the entire game.

Scoring
LIV - Fernando Torres 21 7'

Line-ups
LIV - Pepe Reina; Jamie Carragher, Sami Hyypia, Martin Skrtel, Steven Gerrard (Peter Crouch 90'), John Arne Riise, Xabi Alonso, Lucas, Dirk Kuyt, Fernando Torres (Jermaine Pennant 89'), Ryan Babel (Yossi Benayoun 82')

EVE - Tim Howard; Joleon Lescott, Tony Hibbert, Phil Neville (Leighton Baines 72'), Joseph Yobo, Phil Jagielka, Lee Carsley, Leon Osman, Mikel Arteta, Steven Pienaar (Manuel Fernandes 61'), Ayegbeni Yakubu

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WATFORD'S 12-GAME UNBEATEN RUN ENDS
Watford fell 3-0 at Hull City in their first loss in the Championship since early January. Two early Hull goals helped lead the Tigers to victory.

In the first minute, Richard Garcia went upfield and was fouled by Leigh Bromby, setting up a free kick for Dean Marney. Marney's kick swung in and found Michael Turner, who headed it into the bottom left corner of the net to put Hull ahead after only 47 seconds.

American Jay DeMerit almost equalized for Watford, but his header from Jobi McAnuff's corner could not find the net.

Hull went ahead by two in the 13th minute when Henrik Pedersen's left-footed volley was diverted into the net from six yards out by Frazer Campbell. The 20-year old, who is on loan from Manchester United, has now scored 14 goals for Hull this season.

Hull's American-born Wales goalkeeper Boaz Myhill was forced to make his first save of the match when McAnuff's volley from 20 yards out was on target. Myhill dove to the left to parry the shot away.

McAnuff had another chance in the second half, but his close range shot was deflected by Samuel Ricketts before going over the crossbar. Myhill then made another nice save only moments later on Lee Williamson's attempt.

Campbell and Pedersen linked up well in midfield to set up the third goal of the match in the 73rd minute. They got the ball to Caleb Folan, who put a shot under Hornets goalkeeper Richard Lee.

The match got worse for Watford when Steven Kabba was shown red for a late reckless foul.

Fifth place Watford host Coventry City on Saturday.

Scoring
HC - Michael Turner 4 (Dean Marney) 1'
HC - Frazer Campbell 14 (Henrik Pedersen) 13'
HC - Caleb Folan 8 (Henrik Pedersen) 73'

Line-ups
WAT - Richard Lee; Leigh Bromby, Dan Shittu, Mathew Sadler, Jay DeMerit (Collins John 79'), Tommy Smith, Lee Williamson, Jobi McAnuff, Alhassan Bangura (Adrian Mariappa 56'), Steven Kabba, Nathan Ellington (Lionel Ainsworth 56')

HC - Boaz Myhill; Andy Dawson, Samuel Ricketts, Wayne Brown, Michael Turner, Ian Ashbee (Bryan Hughes 90'), Richard Garcia, Dean Marney, Henrik Pedersen, Dean Windass (Caleb Folan 59'), Frazer Campbell (Craig Fagan 87')

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ON THE SIDELINE
Goalkeeper Matt Pickens was on QPR's bench for their scoreless draw at Ipswich.

Cory Gibbs is still recovering from an injury and did not dress for Charlton's 3-2 loss against Wolverhampton.

The same goes for Frank Simek as his Sheffield Wednesday defeated Stoke City 1-0.

Zak Whitbread did not dress for Millwall's 2-0 loss at Bournemouth.