Jonathan Spector helped West Ham knock old club Manchester United from the top, Tim Howard's Everton suffered a second half nightmare at home to Arsenal and Jemal Johnson played MK Dons hero for the second straight game.

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HAMMERS RALLY PAST UNITED
West Ham hit twice in the late going to flip the scoreline on visiting Manchester United as Alan Curbishley's men defeated the Red Devils for the third straight time with a 2-1 decision.

Jonathan Spector worked the full 90 minutes in central defense, ceding United a second half spot kick they would waste with a handball in the area.

The home side went close twice in the opening minute, with Nolberto Solano's close range shot blocked by Patrice Evra and Lucas Neill whistling a long drive just wide.

In the eighth minute, Hayden Mullins rang the crossbar and West Ham were left to rue a double missed chance when Mark Noble screwed the rebound wide.

Six minutes later, United drew first blood as Cristiano Ronaldo barged into the area to nod home Ryan Giggs' inch perfect left wing cross.

The Hammers returned to the prowl, with Solano forcing an acrobatic Tomasz Kuszczak save in the 35th minute. Shortly after the break, the Peru international curled a free kick inches wide of the far post.

Midway through the period, Ronaldo had a golden chance to double the away lead when Spector's arm pulled down a lob entry feed meant for Anderson. Fortunately for the hosts, keeper Robert Green maintained his perfect season record on spot tries when the Portugal star fired his low laser wide.

West Ham finally drew level in the 77th minute as Anton Ferdinand burned his brother's club by heading in from a Noble corner serve.

Five minutes later, Matthew Upson completed the rally by doing likewise to a Noble restart from the right.

With the win, the Hammers eased up to ninth place ahead of Tuesday's visit to league leaders Arsenal.

Scoring
MU - Cristiano Ronaldo 13 (Ryan Giggs) 14'
WHU - Anton Ferdinand 1 (Mark Noble) 77'
WHU - Matthew Upson 1 (Mark Noble) 82'

Line-ups
WHU - Robert Green; Lucas Neill, Jonathan Spector, Matthew Upson, George McCartney, Nolberto Solano (John Pantsil 49'), Scott Parker (Anton Ferdinand 55'), Hayden Mullins, Mark Noble, Freddie Ljungberg (Dean Ashton 70'), Carlton Cole

MU - Tomasz Kuszczak; Wes Brown (John O'Shea 89'), Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidić, Patrice Evra, Cristiano Ronaldo, Owen Hargreaves (Nani 80'), Darren Fletcher, Ryan Giggs, Louis Saha, Carlos Tevez (Anderson 64')

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BOCANEGRA HITS IN FULHAM DRAW
Fulham held on with 10 men to book a 1-1 draw at Birmingham on Saturday afternoon.

Both Carlos Bocanegra and Clint Dempsey went the full route, with the former scoring early to give the Cottagers three consecutive goals by Americans.

After Gary McSheffrey squandered a good chance by firing over, Bocanegra found a seam between two defenders to crash home Simon Davies' near post corner kick after on seven minutes.

Three minutes later, David Healy threatened with a firm shot on target after being flicked on by Dempsey.

The Brummies gradually came into the game, with McSheffrey going close with a free kick and Mikael Forssell compelling a low save from Antti Niemi in the moments before halftime.

Ten minutes out of intermission, the hosts were back to even as Fabrice Muamba played Sebastian Larsson into the area. The Swede's shot caromed off of Elliot Omozusi to beat Niemi.

Birmingham continued pressuring as Mehdi Nafti missed just high and Niemi went to full stretch to tip over an effort from former Cottager Franck Queudrue.

Hameur Bouazza was shown the gate for his second booking 11 minutes from time, but the Brums were unable to take advantage before the whistle.

Nineteenth place Fulham get back to work when Chelsea arrive for a West London derby on New Year's Day.

Scoring
FUL - Carlos Bocanegra 1 (Simon Davies) 7'
BC - Sebastian Larsson 2 55'

Line-ups
BC - Maik Taylor; Stephen Kelly, Rahdi Jaidi, Liam Ridgewell, Franck Queudrue, Gary McSheffrey, Fabrice Muamba, Damien Johnson (Mehdi Nafti 46'), Sebastian Larsson (Daniel de Ridder 73'), Mikael Forssell (Garry O'Connor 77'), Cameron Jerome

FUL - Antti Niemi; Elliot Omozusi, Dejan Stefanović, Carlos Bocanegra, Paul Konchesky, Simon Davies, Danny Murphy (Alexei Smertin 70'), Stephen Davis, Hameur Bouazza, Clint Dempsey, David Healy (Shefki Kuqi 74')

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ROYALS DROP 10-GOAL THRILLER
Despite leading three times, and as late as the 74th minute, Reading were done in by a Dimitar Berbatov master class in a 6-4 defeat at Tottenham.

Marcus Hahnemann endured all six goals in net for the Royals, while Bobby Convey worked the opening 84 minutes on the left side of midfield.

Spurs needed only seven minutes to break the ice as Berbatov hit the first of four goals from a Robbie Keane centering feed.

Nine minutes later, Kalifa Cisse collected the long rebound of a Nicky Shorey free kick to fire past Tottenham netminder Paul Robinson, knotting the match at ones.

Chances were few and far between until halftime, although Keane somehow managed to miss a golden opportunity in front of goal.

Seven minutes after the break, Ívar Ingimarsson nodded home a corner kick - essentially through Robinson - to give the Royals their first lead.

The England keeper made amends shortly thereafter, stopping Dave Kitson at close range after a Convey set-up. The save set the table for Berbatov, who equalized after the hour off of a poor Graeme Murty clearance attempt.

In the 69th minute, Kitson put Reading back in front by depositing a Shorey corner serve, but Berbatov checked back with his third of the game four minutes later on a cheeky turnaround effort.

The tie barely lasted a minute as Kitson put the visitors up 4-3 from a Stephen Hunt cross. Once again, Spurs reacted quickly, with Steed Malbranque scoring past Hahnemann.

Tottenham went ahead to stay with 11 minutes left after Ibrahima Sonko pulled down Keane in the area. The Ireland star was denied by Hahnemann, but Jermain Defoe moved quickest to bag the rebound.

Berbatov completed the scoring four minutes later, leaving the Royals to continue their search for a first away win on the season.

Reading must refocus quickly as Portsmouth will invade the Madejski on Tuesday.

Scoring
TOTT - Dimitar Berbatov 5 (Robbie Keane) 7'
REA - Kalifa Cissé 1 16'
REA - Ívar Ingimarsson 2 (Nicky Shorey) 53'
TOTT - Dimitar Berbatov 6 63'
REA - Dave Kitson 7 (Nicky Shorey) 69'
TOTT - Dimitar Berbatov 7 73'
REA - Dave Kitson 8 (Stephen Hunt) 74'
TOTT - Steed Malbranque 3 (Tom Huddlestone) 76'
TOTT - Jermain Defoe 3 79'
TOTT - Dimitar Berbatov 8 (Younes Kaboul) 83'

Line-ups
TOTT - Paul Robinson; Pascal Chimbonda, Younes Kaboul, Ledley King (Jermain Defoe 61'), Lee Young-Pyo, Aaron Lennon (Kevin-Prince Boateng 67'), Jermaine Jenas, Tom Huddlestone, Steed Malbranque, Dimitar Berbatov, Robbie Keane (Teemu Tainio 80')

REA - Marcus Hahnemann; Graeme Murty (Ulises de la Cruz 71'), Ibrahima Sonko, Ívar Ingimarsson, Nicky Shorey, Stephen Hunt, Kalifa Cissé, James Harper, Bobby Convey (Shane Long 84'), Kevin Doyle, Dave Kitson

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GUNNERS STORM PAST EVERTON
After taking a lead into the break, Tim Howard and Everton fell apart at home on Saturday, falling to tabletop Arsenal 4-1.

The Toffees came out of the clubhouse with confidence and were rewarded for their early play when Tim Cahill stabbed home from a corner kick scramble on 19 minutes.

In a heavy rain, Everton continued to run the show until halftime. Only two minutes out of intermission, Eduardo latched onto a long ball and slipped past Phil Jagielka to slot past the approaching Howard for his first Premiership strike.

Ayegbeni Yakubu perhaps should have put the home side back in front moments later, but sent his header from a Joleon Lescott cross well wide of frame.

In the 58th minute, the Brazilian-born Croatia international doubled his account, again duping Jagielka to break in alone for the goal.

Everton were handed a way back in when Nicklas Bendtner's 73rd minute high boot on Phil Neville drew a second yellow card, but it was Arsenal who would score next.

Joseph Yobo made the mistake of letting a bouncer run through to Howard, who with Emmanuel Adebayor bearing down, had to boot away in front of the 18 before he could handle. The Blues netminder failed, allowing the Togo star to casually walk the ball into the net.

After Mikel Arteta was shown straight red for an elbow to the face of Cesc Fabregas, Gunners sub Tomas Rosický applied the last minute capper.

Everton will try to regroup when they travel to Middlesbrough on New Year's Day.

Scoring
EVE - Tim Cahill 6 19'
ARS - Eduardo 1 (Gael Clichy) 47'
ARS - Eduardo 2 (Nicklas Bendtner) 58'
ARS - Emmanuel Adebayor 11 78'
ARS - Tomas Rosický 5 (Abou Diaby) 90'

Line-ups
EVE - Tim Howard; Tony Hibbert (Andy Johnson 71'), Joseph Yobo, Phil Jagielka, Joleon Lescott, Mikel Arteta, Lee Carsley, Phil Neville, Steven Pienaar, Tim Cahill, Ayegbeni Yakubu

ARS - Manuel Almunia; Bakary Sagna, Kolo Touré, William Gallas, Gael Clichy, Aliaksandr Hleb (Lasanne Diarra 82'), Cesc Fabregas (Tomas Rosický 88'), Mathieu Flamini, Abou Diaby, Nicklas Bendtner, Eduardo (Emmanuel Adebayor 74')

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ASD Match Report
QPR RAIDS VICARAGE ROAD

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LIONS MOVE AWAY FROM DROP ZONE
Millwall won for the second straight, 2-0 over visiting Crewe, to climb five points clear of the relegation fray.

Zak Whitbread again went the distance in central defense for the Lions.

Crewe had the first big chance to open the scoring, only to watch Chris McCready's corner kick header hit the woodwork.

The home side broke in front on the edge of halftime, with Neil Harris converting from the spot after being fouled by McCready.

Eight minutes into the second half, Ahmet Brkovic turned home a Dave Brammer restart to complete the margin.

Millwall could have heaped on more goals, but can simply hope they saved some for Tuesday's trek to Northampton.

Scoring
MW - Neil Harris (PK) 1 45'
MW - Ahmet Brkovic 2 (Dave Brammer) 53'

MW - Lenny Pidgeley; Danny Senda, Paul Robinson, Zak Whitbread, Marcus Bignot, Bryan Hodge, Dave Brammer, Jay Simpson, Ali Fuseini, Gary Alexander (Ahmet Brkovic 38'), Neil Harris (Adebayo Akinfenwa 86')

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JOHNSON WINNER LIFTS DONS
Jemal Johnson hopped off the bench to claim a late MK Dons winner for the second time this week, hitting with six minutes left to dispose of hosts Darlington.

Mark Wright had the best look at goal during a first half run by the visitors, but managed to miss the frame.

Near the hour, Darlo conjured a prime chance to open when a poor clearance teed up Robert Purdie, whose volley was well saved by Willy Gueret. The rebound fell to a wide open Pawel Abbott, but the striker shunned the yawning net by shooting wide.

In the 84th minute, Johnson received a pass from Jude Stirling and played a box one-two with Wright before smacking the decider.

Tabletop Dons will try to build their six-point League Two cushion when they host Mansfield Town on New Year's Day.

Scoring
MKD - Jemal Johnson 4 (Mark Wright) 84'

MKD - Willy Gueret; Luke Howell, Drissa Diallo, Danny Swailes, Dean Lewington, Keith Andrews, Alan Navarro, Colin Cameron (Jemal Johnson 64'), Nathan Dyer (Jordan Hadfield 88'), Drewe Broughton (Jude Stirling 64'), Mark Wright

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