Clint Dempsey connected in another Fulham collapse, Brad Friedel's Rovers shared the points with Tim Howard's Toffees and Watford took one on the chin at Leicester.

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FULHAM FAIL AT VILLA PARK
Fulham's terrible run of luck in the Premier League continued on Saturday after falling 2-1 to Aston Villa at Villa Park thanks to a last-minute Shaun Maloney goal.

With an injury-ravaged attack missing skipper Brian McBride, Cottagers boss Lawrie Sanchez elected to start Clint Dempsey up top, with Carlos Bocanegra slotting in to his normal center back position alongside Zat Knight. Kasey Keller also made his Fulham debut after signing this week, though the end result will spoil what should have been a celebratory occasion.

It started so well for the visitors, with Dempsey scoring his first goal on the new season only six minutes in. The American finished powerfully following a well-executed build that saw new signing Diomansy Kamara feed the ball to Dempsey's charging run, despite being impeded by two Villa defenders.

If the goal startled Villa, they certainly didn't show it. Almost immediately, Martin O'Neill's side began to fight back, with most the danger coming from Ashley Young on the left side of midfield.

When Fulham did have their chance, it was a notable one. With the ball loose in the box following a Simon Davies corner in the 30th minute, Kamara didn't hesitate to fire a shot that appeared to hit Villa defender Craig Gardner in the arm en route.

However, referee Steve Bennett failed to award a penalty to the visitors, making it two weeks in a row that the Cottagers have been denied a crucial call in the area.

Villa responded in force, keeping possession and looking dangerous for much of the first half before John Carew hit the woodwork with a header just before the interval.

However disappointing that was, the Villans didn't have to wait long to get even with Fulham after the break. Just five minutes in, Young capped off a well-played run with a powerful shot that deflected off Zat Knight to beat Keller at the near post.

Things didn't get much better for Fulham as they continued to struggle with possession, and the task was made even tougher when right back Chris Baird was sent off in the 68th minute.

Dempsey nearly restored the visitors to the lead, but Scott Carson sprawled to keep his 87th minute header out. Villa continued to huff and puff mightily until Shaun Maloney hit a goal in the 90th minute to give the hosts the win.

Scoring
FUL - Clint Dempsey 1 (Diomansy Kamara) 1 6'
AV - OG (Zat Knight) 51'
AV - Shaun Maloney 1 (Ashley Young) 90'

Line-ups
AV - Scott Carson; Craig Gardner, Olof Mellberg, Martin Laursen, Wilfred Bouma (Shaun Maloney 83'), Stilian Petrov (Luke Moore 45'), Nigel Reo-Coker, Gareth Barry, Ashley Young, John Carew (Marlon Harewood 77'), Gabriel Agbonlahor

FUL - Kasey Keller; Chris Baird, Zat Knight (Ian Pearce 56'), Carlos Bocanegra, Paul Konchesky, Simon Davies, Sean Davis, Alexei Smertin, Clint Dempsey, Diomansy Kamara (Moritz Volz 69'), David Healy (Collins John 65')

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BOLTON GET WELL AGAINST READING
Marcus Hahnemann had a busy but regrettable Saturday afternoon as Bolton Wanderers defeated Reading 3-0 at the Reebok Stadium.

Gary Speed, Nicolas Anelka, and Daniel Braaten all scored for the home side, giving Bolton boss Sammy Lee his first victory since taking over the club this season.

Wanderers seemed to have ignored all the attention surrounding their winless start to the season as they controlled the ball and created chances throughout the game, limiting Reading to almost nothing on the offensive end.

Indeed, Reading had very little help on the defensive end of things as well, with England left back Nicky Shorey and captain right back Graeme Murty both out through injury, replaced by newcomer Scott Goldbourne and Ulises De La Cruz.

Bobby Convey came on as a substitute in the 68th minute for the visitors, but could do nothing on what was a disappointing performance following the Royals' bright start to the campaign.

Speed buried a close range header just after the half hour, but Wanderers did not double the advantage until Anelka coolly slotted 10 minutes out of intermission.

Rosenborg transplant Braaten grabbed his first EPL tally with a stretch poke in added time to complete the margin.

Scoring
BOL - Gary Speed 1 (El-Hadji Diouf) 32'
BOL - Nicholas Anelka 3 (El-Hadji Diouf) 55'
BOL - Daniel Braaten 1 (Nicholas Anelka) 90'

Line-ups
BOL - Jussi Jaskelainen; Nicky Hunt, Gérald Cid, Abdoulaye Méïté, Jlloyd Samuel, Gary Speed, Kevin Nolan, Gavin McCann, Mikel  Alonso (Daniel Braaten 75'), El-Hadji Diouf, Nicholas Anelka

REA - Marcus Hahnemann; Ulises De la Cruz (John Halls 83'), Andre Bikey, Ívar Ingimarsson, Scott Golbourne (Bobby Convey 63'), Emerse Faé (Leroy Lita 73'), James Harper, Brynjar Gunnarsson, Stephen Hunt, Shane Long, Kevin Doyle

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JEROME LFTS VISITING BRUMS
Derby County's search for a win in the Premiership this season will continue after this week as the Rams succumbed to Birmingham thanks to two classy strikes from Cameron Jerome.

Eddie Lewis made a surprise starting debut for the Rams and got an assist in his 73 minutes of play, while fellow American Benny Feilhaber didn't make the match day squad.

Derby had their work cut out for them almost from the get-go as Jerome hit the first of his two goal only 32 seconds in. Mikael Forssell was the provider in this instance, sliding a perfect through ball to Jerome, who did well to finish by Derby keeper Stephen Bywater from a difficult angle.

Derby looked the lesser side throughout the first half, while Birmingham did well with crisp passing and possession play. However, neither team could find a way to score again until the second half.

This time, it was Rams captain Matt Oakley with the finish after latching on to a pinpoint Eddie Lewis cross in the 51st minute.

Birmingham did well to fight back, though, and their persistence paid off as Jerome scored the winner just 12 minutes after Oakley had given Derby some hope.

Scoring
BHM - Cameron Jerome 1 (Mikael Forssell) 1'
DER - Matt Oakley 2 (Eddie Lewis) 51
BHM - Cameron Jerome 2 (Sebastian Larsson) 63'

Line-ups
DER - Stephen Bywater; Andy Griffin, Claude Davis (Darren Moore 60'), Andy Todd, Jay McEveley, Gary Teale (Dean Leacock 86'), Matt Oakley, Stephen Pearson, Eddie Lewis (Robert Earnshaw 73'), Steve Howard, Craig Fagan

BHM - Maik Taylor, Stuart Parnaby, Rahdi Jaidi, Liam Ridgewell, Stephen Kelly, Olivier Kapo, Fabrice Muamba (Matthew Sadler 85'), Johan Djourou, Gary McSheffrey (Mehdi Nafti 73'), Cameron Jerome, Mikael Forssell (Sebastian Larsson 60')

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AMERICAN KEEPER DUEL A STALEMATE
Tim Howard's second straight game against a fellow American goalkeeper ended well on Saturday as Everton drew 1-1 against Blackburn despite some poor first half play.

Brad Friedel was given a lot to do early on, saving both Andrew Johnson and Alan Stubbs within the first 15 minutes. When Roque Santa Cruz broke through to score a scrappy goal in the box, though, Everton lost all confidence and Rovers began to take over.

Blackburn defender Christopher Samba had a header cleared off the line not long after the goal, while Howard was also forced into a diving save to stop a 20-yard laser shot from David Dunn not long after.

Things got even worse for Everton as things went on, with both Lee Carsley and Stubbs having to be taken off due to injury.

However, the Toffees kept fighting and were eventually rewarded with an equalizer via James McFadden.

Ironically enough, it was the goal scorer Santa Cruz who could be pointed with the blame, as his weak clearance out of the defensive third found Mikel Arteta, who crossed for an unmarked McFadden to finish past a helpless Friedel.

It wasn't all wrapped up from then, however, as Howard still had to make an acrobatic save to stop David Bentley's injury time free kick from going in to preserve a point for the Liverpool side.

Scoring
BLA - Roque Santa Cruz 3 15'
EVE - James McFadden 1 (Mikel Arteta) 78'

Line-ups
EVE - Tim Howard; Tony Hibbert (Victor Anichebe 64'), Joseph Yobo, Alan Stubbs (Joleon Lescott 46'), Leighton Baines, Mikel Arteta, Lee Carsley (Phil Jagielka 41'), Gary Neville, Leon Osman, James McFadden, Andy Johnson

BLA - Brad Friedel; Brett Emerton, Andre Ooijer, Cherno Samba, Stephen Warnock, David Bentley, Robbie Savage, David Dunn (Aaron Mokoena 86'), Morten Gamst Pedersen, Benni McCarthy (Matt Derbyshire 74'), Roque Santa Cruz (Jason Roberts 90')

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FOXES DEAL WATFORD FIRST LOSS
Jay DeMerit and Watford had a night to forget on Saturday, having been crushed by Leicester City 4-1 at Walker Stadium.

Iain Hume, DJ Campbell, Alan Sheehan and Mark de Vries made life miserable for the visitors, who looked lethargic and uninspired playing against a team that had yet to win on the season.

Indeed, the only consolation Watford had to give its supports was a 90th minute Marlon King penalty kick.

DeMerit started and went 83 minutes for the Hornets before being replaced by forward Will Hoskins.

Scoring
LEI - Iain Hume 1 15'
LEI - DJ Campbell 2 51'
LEI - Alan Sheehan 1 54'
LEI - Mark De Vries 1 85'
WAT - Marlon King 2 (PK) 90'

Line-ups
LEI - Márton Fülöp; Bruno N'Gotty, Gareth McAuley, Patrick Kisnorbo, Clive Clarke, Iain Hume (Hossein Kaebi 79'), Stephen Clemence, Alan Sheehan (Radostin Kishishev 85'), James Wesolowski, DJ Campbell (James Chambers 62'), Mark De Vries

WAT - Mart Poom; Lloyd Doyley, Jay DeMerit (Will Hoskins 83'), Danny Shittu, Jordan Stewart, Jordi McAnuff (Adrian Mariappa 86'), Gavin Mahon, Lee Williamson, Tommy Smith, Marlon King, Steve Kabba (Tamás Priskin 68')

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ON THE SIDELINE
Jonathan Spector was an unused substitute in West Ham's 1-1 home draw with Wigan.

Cory Gibbs did not make the match day squad for Charlton's 3-2 win over Sheffield Wednesday as he continues his recovery from injury.

Zak Whitbread was an unused substitute in Millwall's 1-0 away loss to Southend.