Brighton goalkeeper Casper Ankergren had a day to forget after his error lead to the only goal of the match. Under no pressure, Ankergren spilled a cross from Boro’s Joe Bennett and  McDonald reacted quickest to net his fifth goal of the campaign. Meanwhile, fellow Aussie Rhys Williams played the full 90 minutes for Tony Mowbray’s side.

Boro now sit in fourth place while Brighton remains seventh on the nPower Championship table.

Elsewhere in the nPower Championship, Richard Garcia returned to action as Hull City continued their revival under caretaker boss Nicky Barmby with a 1-0 victory at Coventry. After spending eight months on the sidelines, Garcia played the last 11 minutes for the Tigers. The result sees Hull move into the playoff places but Coventry continue to struggle, sitting bottom of the table.

Socceroo Mile Jedinak put in a full shift for Crystal Palace in their hard fought 1-0 win over Nottingham Forest. Glen Murray, who recently netted the winner against Manchester United in the Carling Cup, was the difference again. His 56th minute goal ensured Palace ended their eight-game winless streak.

Adam Federici kept a clean sheet for Reading in their confidence boosting 3-0 win at home to nine-man West Ham. A double from Simon Church and an Alex Pearce goal moved Reading within five points of the playoff places.

Patrick Kisnorbo had Alex McCarthy to thank after the Leeds keeper saved a Watford penalty with only two minutes of normal time remaining. Patrick Kisnorbo fouled Marvin Sordell but his penalty was tipped onto the post before being cleared from danger. Watford was made to pay for their missed opportunity as Robert Snodgrass equalised through a penalty of their own deep into injury time. The 1-1 draw extends Leeds unbeaten away run to four games.

Neil Kilkenny played 90 minutes as Bristol City suffered a 2-1 defeat away to Derby County. Derek McInnes’s men have now lost twice on the bounce after a promising start to life under the former St.Johnstone manager.

On loan from Aston Villa, Shane Lowry played the entire match for Millwall in their goalless draw at home to Cardiff City.

In the English Premier League, Tim Cahill and his Everton teammates managed just one shot on target for the entire match as Arsenal celebrated their 125th birthday with a 1-0 win. Robin Van Persie scored a sensational volley to secure all three points for the home side.

Mark Schwarzer’s Fulham continued this poor away form with a 2-0 loss away to Swansea. After netting the winner against Liverpool, Clint Dempsey scored an own goal and missed a penalty in a match to forget. Fulham have scored just four goals on the road this season, equal lowest in the Premier League this season.

Chris Herd completed another ninety minutes in Aston Villa’s 2-1 win over Bolton at the Reebok Stadium. The loss sends Bolton to the foot of the table while Villa occupies ninth position.

In the Bundesliga, Nikita Rukavytsya was an unused substitute in Hertha Berlin’s 2-1 defeat at home to Schalke. Klaas-Jan Huntelaar had given Schalke a 19th minute lead before Gustavo Ramos equalised six minutes later. Teemu Pukki’s 43rd minute goal proved to be the winner and sent Schalke into third position.

Matthew Leckie played the last 20 minutes in Borussia Monchengladbach’s 1-0 defeat at the hands of Augsburg. The result sees Monchengladbach’s five-game unbeaten run come to an end.

Mitchell Langerak watched from the bench as Borussia Dortmund was held to a 1-1 draw at home to Kaiserslautern. Dortmund now trails Bayern by three points following their 2-1 win at Stuttgart.

In Germany’s second division, Robbie Kruse was an unused substitute in Fortuna Dusseldorf’s 1-1 draw at Bochum. Dusseldorf remains at the summit of 2.Bundesliga with eighteen matches played.

Socceroo Brett Holman played 68 minutes in AZ Alkmaar’s 4-0 drubbing of De Graafschap at the AFAS Stadion. AZ enjoy a four point lead at the top of the Eredivisie table.

Elsewhere, Adam Sarota was the only Aussie to see action for Utrecht following their 2-2 draw with Feyenoord at the Stadion Galgenwaard. Adam Sarota entered the fray with just under twenty minutes remaining while Michael Zullo and Tommy Oar were unused substitutes.

In the Scottish Premier League, Ryan McGowan received a 62nd minute yellow card as Hearts lost 1-0 at Celtic Park, Socceroo Matt McKay was an unused substitute in Rangers 2-0 win over Hibernian while Aaron Mooy was also an unused substitute for St Mirren in their 2-2 draw with Aberdeen.

Scott Chipperfield was withdrawn six minutes from time in Basel’s 1-1 draw away to Neuchatel Xamax. Marco Streller’s 76th minute goal was cancelled out by Abdou Rahman four minutes later at the Stade de la Maladiere.

Socceroo James Troisi found the back of net after only one minute of play in Kayserispor’s 1-0 victory away to Samsunspor.

In the Greek Super League, Nathan Burns was an unused substitute in AEK Athens 2-1 victory at home to PAS Giannina. AEK stay top with Olympiakos playing a game less.

In Spain’s Segunda Division, David Carney made a six-minute cameo appearance as Alcorcon was to a goalless draw with Celta de Vigo.

In Italy’s Serie B, Sassuolo moved to third courtesy of a 2-1 win at home to Livorno. Socceroo Carl Valeri was absent from the clash that saw Gianluca Sansone bag a brace.

In the United Arab Emirates, Socceroo captain Lucas Neill tasted defeat for the first time with Al Jazira after they lost 3-2 away to Al Shabab while Marco Bresciano found the back of the net twice for Al Nasr in their 2-1 win at home to Bani Yas.

In League One, Alex Cisak was the only Aussie to see action for Oldham in a 2-0 home defeat against second placed Sheffield Wednesday. James Wesolowski was absent while Dean Bouzanis continued on the bench for Paul Dickov’s men.

Over in League Two, another Aussie tasted defeat as Shane Cansdell-Sherriff and his Shrewsbury teammates were beaten 1-0 away to Aldershot.

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