Clint Dempsey hit a late equalizer for Fulham, Jonathan Spector helped West Ham rally for a win at Boro and Reading keeper Marcus Hahnemann benefited from a 90th minute winner.

--------------------------
HAMMERS FIGHT BACK AT BORO
West Ham recovered well from back-to-back defeats to Everton this past week, fighting to a 2-1 away victory against Middlesbrough on Saturday.

Jonathan Spector started and played the full 90 in a new position for the Hammers - the heart of defense. The American was a stop-gap option at the position due to multiple injuries within the squad, but afterwards, the match Hammers manager Alan Curbishley had nothing but praise for the versatile youngster.

He will also have plenty of praise for his squad's overall mentality, as the Hammers fought back after going down thanks to an easy tap-in by David Wheater on 40 minutes.

West Ham responded as well as they could have to the occasion, equalizing just four minutes later through a low drive from Dean Ashton.

The second half was markedly more physical than the first, with neither team really dominating any facet of the game. However, Scott Parker assured that West Ham would go home with all three points after capping his excellent run through the Boro defense with a cool finish in the 90th minute.

Scoring
BORO - David Wheater 1 (Jermaine Aliadière) 40'
WHU - Dean Ashton 4 44'
WHU - Scott Parker 1 90'

Line-ups
BORO - Mark Schwarzer; Luke Young, Jonathan Woodgate (Robert Huth 62'), David Wheater, Emanuel Pogatetz, Julio Arca, George Boateng, Stewart Downing, Adam Johnson (Louis Cattermole 77'), Jermaine Aliadière, Tuncay Sanli

WHU - Robert Green; George McCartney, Lucas Neill, Jonathan Spector, Matthew Upson, Fredrik Ljungberg, Hayden Mullins, Scott Parker, Nolberto Solano (Mark Noble 76'), Dean Ashton, Henri Camara (John Pantsil 85')

--------------------------
ROYALS NIP SUNDERLAND AT DEATH
Reading once again needed some late heroics from Stephen Hunt to secure points in the Premier League, but on Saturday it came in the most controversial of circumstances with a 2-1 win over Sunderland.

Marcus Hahnemann west the distance in goal as usual for the Royals, while Bobby Convey started and played 84 minutes before being substituted.

For most of the match, it was all Reading, who maintained consistent possession in Sunderland's half and created many quality scoring chances - none of which they seemed to be able to finish. Hunt had perhaps the most spectacular of all the chances as his rocket shot from the edge of the area had Sunderland keeper Craig Gordon beaten, but bounced off the woodwork and out of play.

The near goal seemed only to ignite Reading more, and just nine minutes later, they would strike, with Ivar Ingimarsson in the right place at the right time to tap home Gordon's block of a Reading free kick.

Sunderland fought back, however, and were rewarded for their efforts with a penalty kick as Kenwyne Jones was tackled harshly in the box by Ibrahima Sonko. Michael Chopra made no mistake with the ensuing spot kick, leaving the scores level with only eight minutes to play.

The Black Cats surely thought they had the point in the bag, but their dreams were taken away in a cruel fashion as Stephen Hunt's brilliant volley, which was later shown to be saved by Gordon in time, was adjudged to have crossed the line and gone in, giving Reading the lead in second half stoppage time.

Scoring
REA - Ivan Ingimarsson 1 69'
SUN - Michael Chopra 3 (PK) 82'
REA - Stephen Hunt 5 (Shane Long) 90'

Line-ups
REA - Marcus Hahnemann; Graeme Murty, Ibrahima Sonko, Ivar Ingimarsson, Nicky Shorey, Stephen Hunt, James Harper, Brynjar Gunnarsson, Bobby Convey (Shane Long 83'), Kevin Doyle, Dave Kitson

SUN - Craig Gordon; Dean Whitehead, Paul McShane, Danny Higginbotham, Danny Collins, Michael Chopra (Anthony Stokes 87'), Dwight Yorke, Grant Leadbitter, Daryl Murphy (Daryl Murphy 62'), Kenwyne Jones, Andrew Cole (Ross Wallace 62')  

--------------------------
DEMPSEY BAGS FULHAM SHARE
Clint Dempsey continued his habit of scoring vital goals for Fulham on Saturday as the American struck the equalizer in Fulham's 1-1 draw with fellow relegation battlers Wigan at Craven Cottage.

The draw is an encouraging result for the club following Friday's sacking of boss Lawrie Sanchez, with former Watford manager Ray Lewington taking the reins on a caretaker basis.

Dempsey started and played the full 90 in the match along with defender Carlos Bocanegra, who had a header was cleared off the line early on in the match.

Indeed, the first half and most of the second was all Fulham, who still failed to create any real scoring chances outside of Bocanegra's header and a long-range shot from Paul Konchesky that surprisingly curled its way on to the woodwork.

The Cottagers were punished for their wastefulness in the 70th minute as Marcus Bent pounced on a nice flick on header in the box, hammering the ball past Antti Niemi to give Wigan the lead.

Fulham would fight back, however, and Dempsey made things even as he finished low and hard past Kirkland just eight minutes later.

Scoring
WIG - Marcus Bent 7 (Titus Bramble) 70'
FUL - Clint Dempsey 5 (Diomansy Kamara) 79'

Line-ups
FUL - Antti Niemi; Elliot Omozusi (Chris Baird 60'), Carlos Bocanegra, Aaron Hughes, Paul Konchesky, Hameur Bouazza (Shefki Kuqi 72'), Steven Davis (David Healy 59'), Danny Murphy, Simon Davies, Diomansy Kamara, Clinton Dempsey     

WIG - Chris Kirkland; Emmerson Boyce, Paul Scharner, Titus Bramble, Kevin Kilbane, Antonio Valencia, Michael Brown, Denny Landzaat, Ryan Taylor (Salomon Olembe 86'), Julius Agahowa (Antoine Sibierski 63'), Marcus Bent

--------------------------
RAMS SHARE FOUR WITH VIDUKA
Derby County's run of 11 games without a win continued on Saturday as Mark Viduka struck a late equalizer to give Newcastle United a 2-2 draw at home against the Premier League bottom feeders.

Eddie Lewis started and played an uneventful 77 minutes for Derby, while fellow American Benny Feilhaber came on as a substitute in the 81st.

Youngster Giles Barnes gave Derby a dream start with a goal in the 6th minute before Viduka scored the first of his two 20 minutes later.

Derby came out stronger after the break and Kenny Miller made things even better as he struck in the 52nd to put the Rams up 2-1.

However, it was not to be as Viduka broke through the Derby defense and netted the equalizer with only three minutes remaining on the clock.

Scoring
DC - Giles Barnes 1 (Kenny Miller)  6'
NEWC - Mark Viduka 4 27'
DC  Kenny Miller 3 (Gary Teale) 52'
NEWC - Mark Viduka 5 (Obafemi Martins) 87'

Line-ups
NEWC - Shay Given; Habib Beye, David Rozehnal (Steven Taylor 58'), Claudio Caçapa, Charles N'Zogbia, Alan Smith, Nicky Butt (Damien Duff 68'), Joey Barton (Emre 75'), James Milner, Obafemi Martins, Mark Viduka   

DC - Stephen Bywater; Tyrone Mears, Darren Moore, Dean Leacock, James McEveley, Gary Teale (Benny Feilhaber 81'), Giles Barnes, Stephen Pearson, Eddie Lewis (Craig Fagan 77'), Steve Howard, Kenny Miller

--------------------------
TOFFEES PAY RONALDO PENALTY
Full recap to follow...

--------------------------
COLE STRIKE DOWNS ROVERS
Full recap to follow...

--------------------------
HORNETS RECLAIM FIRST PLACE
An early goal from Jobi McAnuff was all that was needed to give Watford a 1-0 win over Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday, returning the Hornets to the top spot in the Coca-Cola Championship standings.

Jay DeMerit started and played the full 90 in the heart of the Watford defense, while Wednesday's Frank Simek was out with an ankle injury.

The supporters had barely enough time to get in their seats before the winning goals was already in the back of the net as McAnuff slammed home a loose ball in the box to give Watford a 1-0 lead.

The Hornets didn't exactly look convincing in either defending their lead or adding to it, as Wednesday went close through efforts from Steve Watson and Marcus Tudgay, but the Hornets kept the shutout nonetheless.

Scoring
WAT - Jobi McAnuff 1 6'

Line-ups
WED - Lee Grant; Lee Bullen, Richard Hinds, Michael Johnson, Tommy Spurr, Glenn Whelan, Burton O'Brien (Etienne Esajas 84'), Steve Watson (Yoann Folly 71'), Jermaine Johnson (Deon Burton 70'), Marcus Tudgay, Wade Small     

WAT - Richard Lee; Matt Jackson, Jordan Stewart, Jay DeMerit, Lloyd Doyley, Damien Francis, Jobi McAnuff (Lee Williamson 81'), Tommy Smith, John-Joe O'Toole, Marlon King, Nathan Ellington (Darius Henderson 73')

--------------------------
SADDLERS TAME MILLWALL
Full recap to follow...

--------------------------
ON THE SIDELINE
Cory Gibbs did not take part in Charlton's 1-1 draw with Hull.

Jemal Johnson did not dress for MK Dons' 1-1 draw with Brentford.