Tim Howard's Everton returned to winning ways against Bolton, Clint Dempsey struck again in a big Fulham defeat, Derby County suffered a last minute Liverpool winner and Jemal Johnson played hero for MK Dons.

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SECOND HALF GOALS LIFT EVERTON
Everton scored twice after the break to return to winning ways with a 2-0 decision over Bolton at Goodison Park.

Tim Howard recorded the shutout in net thanks to a late kick save on Nicolas Anelka.

Ayegbeni Yakubu appeared to open the scoring moments before halftime, but a questionable offside flag kept the match scoreless into intermission.

Six minutes after, however, the Toffees broke on top when Phil Neville netted a rare goal. The veteran's cross from the right eluded both Tim Cahill and Jussi Jaskelainen to bounce into the far side of the Bolton cage.

Wanderers nearly leveled soon thereafter on a Gavin McCann overhead try, but Joleon Lescott came to the rescue with an acrobatic line clear.

Cahill put the game on ice with 20 minutes to play by getting to the end of a Lescott cross to nod home.

Sixth place Everton now move on to host Arsenal on Saturday.

Scoring
EVE - Phil Neville 1 51'
EVE - Tim Cahill 5 (Joleon Lescott) 70'

Line-ups
EVE - Tim Howard; Phil Neville (Tony Hibbert 87'), Joseph Yobo, Phil Jagielka, Joleon Lescott, Mikel Arteta, Lee Carsley, Thomas Gravesen (Andy Johnson 80'), Steven Pienaar, Tim Cahill, Ayegbeni Yakubu (James Vaughan 90')

BOL - Jussi Jaskelainen; Nicky Hunt, Andy O'Brien, Abdoulaye Meite, Ricardo Gardner, Kevin Davies, Kevin Nolan (Joey O'Brien 75'), Ivan Campo (Jlloyd Samuel 58'), Danny Guthrie (Gavin McCann 58'), El-Hadji Diouf, Nicolas Anelka

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SPURS KNOCK FULHAM AROUND
A goal by Clint Dempsey was not nearly enough for Fulham, who conceded five against Tottenham Hotspur on Wednesday afternoon in front of 36,077 spectators at White Hart Lane.

Both Dempsey and Carlos Bocanegra played the full 90 minutes in a game that the entire team would most likely rather forget.

Robbie Keane opened the scoring after 26 minutes when he was first to the rebound after a shot on the post by Steed Malbranque.

Two minutes into first half injury time, Dimitar Berbatov raided down the left flank and squared it for Tom Huddlestone, who sent it past a wrong-footed Antti Niemi to make it 2-0.

Dempsey brought some hope back for Fulham at the hour mark when he capitalized on a cross from the left by Hameur Bouazza, but only a minute later, Keane added his second from close range set up by a Berbatov header.

Nine minutes later, it was Aaron Lennon who sprinted down the right flank and found an open Huddlestone, who added his second. In the final minute, Huddlestone found substitute Jermain Defoe to finish the job.

The defeat sends Fulham below the relegation line as Wigan beat Newcastle 1-0 at home. The Cottagers travel to meet Birmingham on Saturday.

Scoring
TOTT - Robbie Keane 9 27'
TOTT - Tom Huddlestone 1 (Dimitar Berbatov) 45+
FUL - Clint Dempsey 6 (Hameur Bouazza) 60'
TOTT - Robbie Keane 10 (Dimitar Berbatov) 61'
TOTT- Tom Huddlestone 2 (Aaron Lennon) 71'
TOTT - Jermain Defoe 2 (Tom Huddlestone) 90'

Line-ups
TOTT - Paul Robinson; Pascal Chimbonda, Young-Pyo Lee, Younes Kaboul, Dimitar Berbatov (Kevin-Prince Boateng 63'), Robbie Keane (Jermain Defoe 68'), Steed Malbranque, Tom Huddlestone, Jamie O'Hara, Aaron Lennon, Ledley King (Adel Taraabt 73')

FUL - Antti Niemi, Carlos Bocanegra, Paul Konchesky, Seol Ki-Hyeon (Hameur Bouazza 46'), Alexey Smertin, Diomansy Kamara, Aaron Hughes (David Healy 64'), Clint Dempsey, Simon Davies, Danny Murphy, Chris Baird (Moritz Volz 46')

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REDS NIP DERBY AT WIRE
Liverpool ace Steven Gerrard pounced on a 90th minute rebound to hit the 2-1 winner and break Derby County hearts at Pride Park.

Eddie Lewis went the distance for the Rams, while Benny Feilhaber worked the entire second half in relief.

The Reds applied loads of early pressure, which paid off when Fernando Torres deposited a sublime strike in the 12th minute.

Derby battened down the hatches to withstand further first half Liverpool attacks, then came out after the break with a renewed look.

The Rams drew level on 67 minutes when an Eddie Lewis restart pinballed around the Liverpool area. Childhood Everton fan Jay McEveley took great delight in locating the loose ball to fire home from an angle.

After debutant keeper Lewis Price pulled off fine stops on Fabio Aurelio and Xabi Alonso, the home side - having made all three substitutions - were reduced to 10 men by an injury to Robert Earnshaw.

Moments after Gerrard rang the crossbar with a firm drive, the England star was in the right place at the right time to stick a Torres rebound past Price for the late winner.

Next up for Derby is a Saturday visit from Brad Friedel and Blackburn.

Scoring
LIV - Fernando Torres 9 12'
DC - Jay McEveley 1 67'
LIV - Steven Gerrard 7 90'

Line-ups
DC - Lewis Price; Tyrone Mears, Dean Leacock, Darren Moore (Benny Feilhaber 46'), Jay McEveley, Gary Teale (Robert Earnshaw 56'), Giles Barnes, Stephen Pearson (Michael Johnson 26'), Eddie Lewis, Steve Howard, Kenny Miller

LIV - Giuseppe Reina; Steve Finnan, Sami Hyypia (Yossi Benayoun 54'), Jamie Carragher, John Arne Riise, Ryan Babel (Dirk Kuyt 72'), Steven Gerrard, Xabi Alonso, Fabio Aurelio, Fernando Torres, Andriy Voronin (Lucas 90')

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10-MAN ROYALS HOLD WEST HAM
A full hour with a man advantage was not enough for West Ham United to beat Reading on Wednesday afternoon, and the Royals left Upton Park with a 1-1 draw in front of a crowd of 34,277.

Jonathan Spector played the full 90 minutes in West Ham's defensive line and nearly set up a winning goal for Sweden star Fredrik Ljungberg in the 65th minute.

Marcus Hahnemann was as usual the man between the pipes for Reading and was kept busy by the Hammers with 11 shots on target. Bobby Convey started in midfield for the Royals and forced a save by West Ham keeper Robert Green in the 18th minute. He was replaced by Kalifa Cisse in the 65th minute.

It was a two-footed tackle by Brynjar Gunnarsson on West Ham's Hayden Mullins just before the half hour mark that gave the Hammers the man advantage as referee Peter Walton showed Gunnarsson the red card.

Twelve minutes later, West Ham capitalized on the advantage as Nolberto Solano beat Nickey Shorey to a loose ball and lifted the it over a helpless Hahnemann from eight yards out.

The Hammers took the lead to the break and looked set for a win, but 13 minutes into the second half, Shorey found an unmarked Dave Kitson, who sent the ball into the top right corner.

West Ham scrambled to take the lead again and only a great save by Hahnemann prevented Ljungberg from making it happen after Spector's setup in the 65th, but the level scoreline would stand.

West Ham are now in ninth place, while Reading remain in 12th. Saturday afternoon has tough challenges in store for both teams as Reading travel to White Hart Lane to meet Tottenham Hotspur, while West Ham play host to Manchester United.

Scoring
WHU - Nolberto Solano 2 41'
REA - Dave Kitson 6 (Nickey Shorey) 59'

Line-ups
WHU - Robert Green; Lucas Neill, Jonathan Spector, Matthew Upson, George McCartney, Nolberto Solano (Mark Noble 76'), Scott Parker, Hayden Mullins, Fredrik Ljungberg, Carlton Cole (Henri Camara 71'), Dean Ashton

REA - Marcus Hahnemann; Graeme Murty, Ibrahima Sonko, Brynjar Gunnarsson, Nickey Shorey, Stephen Hunt, James Harper, Ivar Ingimarsson, Bobby Convey (Kalifa Cisse 65'), Kevin Doyle (Andre Bikey 90'), Dave Kitson (Shane Long 84')

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DEMERIT HITS IN WATFORD DRAW
Jobi McAnuff Rescued a 2-2 share for Watford with a stoppage time goal at Cardiff, but it was not enough to keep the Hornets from falling out of the Championship penthouse for the second time in three games.

Jay DeMerit went 90 minutes in central defense for the visitors and bagged his first goal of the season early in the second half.

The teams evenly traded half-chances until Roger Johnson went up the ladder to head home a corner kick in the 34th minute.

The action continued in a back and forth manner through to the second half, and DeMerit equalized in the 49th minute after lingering in the Bluebirds area. Nathan Ellington flicked a Jordan Stewart cross on for the American to net.

Only seven minutes later, Peter Whittingham put Cardiff back in front by capitalizing on a muffed clearance.

Watford keeper Richard Lee kept his side in it with a good save on Paul Parry, which set up the late heroics by McAnuff. After seeing one effort saved by Man City loan item Kaspar Schmeichel, the midfielder curled a last gasp shot into the upper 90 to gain the Hornets a point.

The Hornets, now trailing first place West Brom on goal differential, return home to tackle Queens Park Rangers on Saturday.

Scoring
CAR - Roger Johnson 3 (Joe Ledley) 34'
WAT - Jay DeMerit 1 (Nathan Ellington) 49'
CAR - Peter Whittingham 3 56'
WAT - Jobi McAnuff 2 90'

Line-ups
WAT - Richard Lee; Lloyd Doyley, Jay DeMerit, Matt Jackson (Danny Shittu 85'), Jordan Stewart, Tommy Smith, John-Joe O'Toole (Lee Williamson 35'), Damien Francis, Jobi McAnuff, Marlon King (Darius Henderson 63'), Nathan Ellington

CAR - Kaspar Schmeichel; Kevin McNaughton, Glenn Loovens, Roger Johnson, Tony Capaldi, Steven McPhail, Steve MacLean (Darren Purse 86'), Joe Ledley, Peter Whittingham, Gavin Rae, Paul Parry

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MILLWALL GOES CLEAR OF DROP ZONE
Gary Alexander hit a hat trick to give Millwall a 3-0 win over visiting Brighton and a three-point cushion on the relegation zone.

Zak Whitbread went the full route in central defense for the Lions, who snapped a two-game losing skid.

Alexander got the party started on seven minutes by kissing home a Dave Brammer restart.

Millwall threatened mightily for the rest of the period, but had to wait to double their lead until Alexander scored with another header nine minutes after the interval.

Alexander was given the chance to bag his third with 19 minutes to play when Brighton keeper Michel Kuipers was whistled for an iffy foul in the area and the striker made no mistake to complete the margin.

Millwall continue their holiday home stand when Crewe come to the Den on Saturday.

Scoring
MW - Gary Alexander 1 (Dave Brammer) 7'
MW - Gary Alexander 2 (Marcus Bignot) 54'
MW - Gary Alexander 3 (PK) 71'

MW - Lenny Pidgeley; Danny Senda, Paul Robinson, Zak Whitbread, Marcus Bignot, Ali Fuseini, Bryan Hodge, David Brammer, Simpson, Gary Alexander, Neil Harris (Adebayo Akinfenwa 90')

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JOHNSON PLAYS DONS HERO
Jemal Johnson hopped off the bench to hit a stoppage time winner at Notts County to keep MK Dons six points clear at the top of League Two.

The hosts broke the ice after nine minutes when Richard Butcher nodded home an Andy Parkinson cross.

Dons would not have to chase the game for long as Kevin Gallen's cutback was dutifully deposited by Mark Wright.

Colin Cameron nearly gave the visitors a quick lead, only to have his diving header strike the post.

The league leaders continued to barrage the Notts County goal, but were unable to carve out the winning goal until late sub Johnson buried a flicked on corner kick in added time.

Dons now travel to face third place Darlington on Saturday.

Scoring
NC - Richard Butcher 8 (Andy Parkinson) 9'
MKD - Mark Wright 5 (Kevin Gallen) 15'
MKD - Jemal Johnson 3 (Drewe Broughton) 90+

MKD - Willy Gueret; Luke Howell, Danny Swailes, Sean O'Hanlon (Carbon 46'), Dean Lewington, Alan Navarro, Keith Andrews, Colin Cameron (Jemal Johnson 86'), Mark Wright, Kevin Gallen (Drewe Broughton 81'), Nathan Dyer

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ON THE SIDELINE
Injured defender Frank Simek missed out as Sheffield Wednesday posted a 1-1 draw at Burnley.

Charlton played out a 1-1 draw at Norwich without recovering defender Cory Gibbs.