Marcus Hahnemann and Reading got well against Newcastle, Jonathan Spector returned in a Hammer draw at Pompey and Frank Simek did likewise in a Wednesday victory over Blackpool.

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TOFFEES RAID PRIDE PARK
Derby County's Premiership nightmare got even worse on Saturday as the Rams succumbed to a 2-0 loss to Everton at Pride Park.

Eddie Lewis and Tim Howard both started for their respective clubs, with Howard going the full 90 and getting the shutout, while Lewis was subbed out in the 56th minute. Derby's Benny Feilhaber was not in the game day squad.

It was a game that Everton controlled from the outset, though they initially failed to convert all of their good possession play into scoring chances.

That all changed when Mikel Arteta scored in the 25th minute, finishing off a Phil Jagielka pass after a clever dummy from Ayegbeni Yakubu.

Derby could never muster up any kind of response to the opener, and they were punished for it as Yakubu finished off a nice pass from Steven Pienaar in the 62nd minute, giving Everton a deserved 2-0 victory.

Scoring
EVE - Mikel Arteta 1 (Phil Jagielka) 25'
EVE - Ayegbeni Yakubu 2 (Steven Pienaar) 62'

Line-ups
DC - Stephen Bywater; Tyrone Mears, Claude Davis, Darren Moore, James McEveley, Eddie Lewis (Robert Earnshaw 56'), Stephen Pearson, Matt Oakley, Craig Fagan (Steve Howard 61'), Giles Barnes, Kenny Miller (David Jones 79')

EVE - Tim Howard; Leighton Baines (Alan Stubbs 46'), Phil Jagielka, Joleon Lescott, Joseph Yobo, Mikel Arteta, Leon Osman, Tim Cahill (James McFadden 85'), Lee Carsley, Steven Pienaar, Ayegbeni Yakubu (Victor Anichebe 80')

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ROVERS IN WHITE HART SMASH'N'GRAB
Blackburn Rovers needed all 90 minutes and then some to steal maximum points from Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane.

Christopher Samba was the hero for Rovers as his 93rd minute strike helped move Rovers to fifth in the Premier League table.

Brad Friedel played the whole match for Blackburn, while Tottenham began life without Martin Jol under the direction of caretaker manager Clive Allen.

The first half was fairly even as scoring chances were spread back and forth between the two sides. However, it seemed nobody was able to connect on these chances.

Steed Malbranque and Dimitar Berbatov missed for Tottenham, while Blackburn got similar dissapointment from Roque Santa Cruz and David Bentley.

Things would start a little brighter for Tottenham after the break as they were awarded a penalty after Aaron Lennon was taken down in the box. Robbie Keane made no mistake with his effort, beating Friedel to the left and putting Spurs ahead 1-0.

Blackburn didn't have to wait long for an equalizer as Benedict McCarthy's deflected free kick drifted over the head of goalkeeper Radek Černý and into the back of the net.

The game got a bit more physical after the equalizer, but Blackburn had the better of the play and were rewarded for their efforts as Samba beat Černý with a shot from the left corner of the penalty area.

Scoring
TOTT - Robbie Keane 6 (PK) 49'
BLA - Benni McCarthy 4 60'
BLA - Christopher Samba 1 90+3'

Line-ups
TOTT - Radek Černý; Pascal Chimbonda, Michael Dawson, Younes Kaboul, Lee Young-Pyo, Aaron Lennon, Tom Huddlestone, Didier Zokora, Steed Malbranque (Darren Bent 77'), Dimitar Berbatov (Jermain Defoe 89'), Robbie Keane

BLA - Brad Friedel; Brett Emerton, Christopher Samba, Andre Ooijer, Stephen Warnock, David Bentley, Robbie Savage (Aaron Mokoena 46'), Tugay (Morten Gamst Pedersen 60'), David Dunn (Matt Derbyshire 83'), Roque Santa Cruz, Benni McCarthy

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GREEN SAVES HAMMERS AT DEATH
Jonathan Spector made it off the bench for the last 12 minutes of a deceptively eventful clash as West Ham avoided an agonizing last-minute defeat at Portsmouth thanks to Robert Green's dramatic penalty save.

Pompey dominated the opening exchanges, with scheming Croatian Niko Kranjčar pulling the strings. His early 25-yard shot from range forced Green into a fingertip save and set the tone for most of the first half.

Pedro Mendes and Benjani Mwaruwari loosed off speculative efforts of their own in the opening period, before Kranjcar once again carved the Hammers open on 35 minutes. Bursting past Danny Gabbidon, he beat the onrushing Green but scuffed his shot just wide of the near post.

Portsmouth's dominance continued in the second half, with Benjani in particular forcing another great save from Green, but West Ham were not without an attacking threat of their own.

Nolberto Solano had already spurned West Ham's best chance with a weak header, when a Carlton Cole shot came back to him off the crossbar. Unmarked, the Peruvian somehow failed to score and was immediately replaced by Spector.

West Ham's spirited resistance was almost in vain, Mike Dean awarding a controversial penalty for a handball by Gabbidon, but Green saved the day with a fine stop from Benjani.

The point leaves the Hammers placed ninth in the Premiership as they prepare for Tuesday's Carling Cup clash with Coventry.

Line-ups
POR - David James; Glen Johnson, Sol Campbell, Sylvain Distin, Hermann Hreidarsson, John Utaka (Kanu 77'), Pape Bouba Diop, Pedro Mendes, Sulley Muntari, Niko Kranjčar, Benjani Mwaruwari

WHU - Robert Green, Lucas Neill, Danny Gabbidon, Matthew Upson, George McCartney, Nolberto Solano (Jonathan Spector 78'), Mark Noble, Hayden Mullins, Luis Boa Morte, Craig Bellamy (Matthew Etherington 46'), Carlton Cole (Anton Ferdinand 90')

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ROYALS TOP NEWCASTLE
Marcus Hahnemann was deprived of a much-needed clean sheet by Michael Duberry's own goal, but Reading showed glimpses of last season's fine form in disposing of Sam Allardyce's Newcastle.

Leroy Lita wasted Reading's best chances in a goalless first half as Newcastle struggled to impose themselves on the game. Brazilian centre-half Caçapa almost gifted the Royals an early goal but his wayward back pass was collected, at a scramble, by Shay Given.

The game opened up a little after the break and it didn't take long for Dave Kitson to give Reading the lead. Given looked a little out of position, but it would be churlish to deny Kitson credit for launching a 20-yard strike over his head on the turn.

With 15 minutes remaining, Newcastle's reply came somewhat shambolically off the stomach of Duberry from an Emre free kick, fizzing through a crowd of players and giving the defender little time to react.

The game hung in the balance, neither side appearing to have the wherewithal to push on for the win, when Royals boss Steve Coppell introduced Shane Long into the action.

Skulking on the end of a free kick launched from deep, the striker's first two touches saw him control the long ball and smash it past Given, with Ibrahima Sonko cleverly occupying his marker.

Bobby Convey, alas, failed to make it off the bench for this promising Reading display, but might expect to figure in next week's away trip to Fulham. The Royals sit 12th in the Premier League.

Scoring
REA - Dave Kitson 4 53'
NEWC - Own Goal (Michael Duberry) 75'
REA - Shane Long 2 84'

Line-ups
REA - Marcus Hahnemann; Graeme Murty (Liam Rosenior 86'), Ibrahima Sonko, Michael Duberry, Nicky Shorey, Leroy Lita (Shane Long 83'), Brynjar Gunnarsson, James Harper, Nicky Hunt, Kevin Doyle, Dave Kitson

NEWC - Shay Given; Habib Beye, Abdoulaye Faye (James Milner 74'), Caçapa, José Enrique, Geremi, Joey Barton, Nicky Butt (Charles N'Zogbia 58'), Emre, Obafemi Martins (Alan Smith 58'), Michael Owen

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JONES KNOTS UP FULHAM
Clint Dempsey and Carlos Bocanegra both went the distance as Fulham were denied the win by Kenwyne Jones' late header.

Dempsey spurned a great early chance, heading straight into the arms of under siege Black Cats keeper Craig Gordon.

Simon Davies put the Cottagers in the driving seat shortly afterwards with a clever free kick, leaving Gordon floundering and Sunderland seemingly at a loss as to how to get back into the game.

They emerged purposefully after the interval and managed to squeeze off a couple of promising crosses, but failed to pose much of a threat before Dempsey again went close with a spectacular overhead kick that soared just over.

The result looked to be set in stone when Sunderland went down to 10 men with just 20 minutes left, Greg Halford receiving a second booking for pulling back David Healy.

This game, though, had a sting in its tail and Jones restored parity with just four minutes on the clock, ghosting onto the end of a Grant Leadbitter cross.

Fulham looked shaken by the late surprise and looked like they might throw it all away in the closing moments, but managed to cling on for what will seem a meager point.

The Cottagers now sit in 14th place in the league ahead of the visit of Reading, next Saturday.

Scoring
FUL - Simon Davies 2 30'
SUND - Kenwyne Jones 2 (Grant Leadbitter) 86'

Line-ups
SUND - Craig Gordon; Greg Halford, Nyron Nosworthy, Danny Higginbotham, Danny Collins, Grant Leadbitter, Dickson Etuhu (Anthony Stokes 61'), Liam Miller, Ross Wallace (Ian Harte 71'), Kenwyne Jones, Michael Chopra (Daryl Murphy 61')

FUL - Antti Niemi; Elliot Omozusi, Aaron Hughes, Dejan Stefanovic, Carlos Bocanegra, Simon Davies, Stephen Davis, Danny Murphy, Clint Dempsey, Diomansy Kamara (Seol Ki-Hyeon 82'), David Healy (Shefki Kuqi 69')

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OWLS FLY FROM DROP ZONE
Frank Simek played the full 90 as Wednesday mounted a great comeback to defeat Blackpool.

Wes Hoolahan put Blackpool ahead against the run of play in the first half, blasting in off the post after the Owls had racked up a succession of chances, but a more natural order was restored soon after the interval as Marcus Tudgay headed the equalizer.

Richard Hinds was waiting on the end of a corner to give the Owls a deserved lead shortly before the end, taking some of the pressure off manager Brian Laws.

The win keeps Wednesday out of the drop zone ahead of next Saturday's trip to in-form Plymouth.

Scoring
POOL - Wes Hoolahan 3 37'
WED - Marcus Tudgay 3 (Michael Johnson) 66'
WED - Richard Hinds 1 (Graham Kavanagh) 72'

Line-ups
WED - Lee Grant; Richard Hinds, Frank Simek, Michael Johnson, Tommy Spurr, Glenn Whelan (Steve Watson 77'), Burton O'Brien, Graham Kavanagh, Jermaine Johnson (Etienne Esajas 79'), Marcus Tudgay, Akpo Sodje (Deon Burton 63')

POOL - Paul Rachubka; Stephen Crainey, Kaspars Gorkšs, Matt Jackson, Shaun Barker, Danny Coid (Andy Welsh 76'), Keith Southern (Michael Flynn 27'), Wes Hoolahan, David Fox (Claus Jorgensen 62'), Keigan Parker, Scott Vernon

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DARLO HELD BY CHESTERFIELD
Johann Smith continued his loan period at Darlingon, but couldn't find the back of the net in the Quakers' 0-0 home draw with Chesterfield.

Chances were few and far between in the match, with Darlington's Matt Green and Chesterfield's Felix Bastians having the best chances for their respective sides.

The result keeps the two teams side by side in the League Two table, with Darlington in third while Chesterfield is a point behind in fourth.

DAR - David Stockdale; Neil Austin, Alan White, Stephen Foster, Robert Purdie, Joe Colbeck, Clark Keltie, Richard Ravenhill, Johann Smith (Michael Cummins 59'), Gregg Blundell, Matthew Green (Kevin McBride 90')

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STOCKPORT ENDS DONS RUN
Milton Keynes Dons saw their eight-match unbeaten run come to an end on Saturday as mid-tablers Stockport stole all three points with a 2-0 victory at the stadium:mk.

Jemal Johnson came on as a 72nd minute substitute for Leon Knight and nearly had the opening goal in the process.

As it was, though, Stockport's Anthony Elding would open the scoring just two minutes after Johnson's chance.

Though Dons tried hard for an equalizer, it was all for naught as substitute Anthony Piklington fired an injury time capper.

Scoring
STO - Anthony Elding 7 (Matty McNeil) 74'
STO - Anthony Piklington 1 90+5'

MKD - Willy Gueret; Drissa Diallo, Sean O'Hanlon, Danny Swailes, Dean Lewington, Mark Wright (Colin Cameron 82'), Keith Andrews, Alan Navarro, Lloyd Dyer (Bally Smart 66'), Leon Knight (Jemal Johnson 72'), Aaron Wilbraham

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ON THE SIDELINE
Cory Gibbs was not in the Charlton squad for their 1-0 loss to QPR.

Zak Whitbread did not play in Millwall's 4-2 defeat at the hand of Leeds United.