Championship: Rotherham stun Sheffield United as Watford reach top six | Championship


Sheffield United were denied the chance to go top of the Championship after South Yorkshire rivals Rotherham triumphed at Bramall Lane for the first time in 42 years.

Ben Wiles scored the decisive first-half goal after Chiedozie Ogbene drifted into the box and found the Millers captain unmarked to coolly turn the ball home.

Enda Stevens had the ball in the back of the net before the break as the Blades searched for a leveller, but the scrambled effort was ruled out for offside.

Viktor Johansson kept a fierce John Egan shot out early in the second half and dealt with a late Oli McBurnie effort, while substitute Billy Sharp also headed wide for a Blades side that failed to take anything from a game they dominated.

Josh Ruffels scored his first two goals for Huddersfield – including an audacious winner – as the Championship’s bottom side overcame high-flying QPR 2-1 at Loftus Road.

Lyndon Dykes had taken just 81 seconds to put the hosts ahead in his 100th appearance for the club, with the opener coming just moments after Seny Dieng kept Danny Ward out in a one-on-one at the other end.

The Terriers were quick to respond as the frenzied early pace of the game continued, with Ruffels levelling with a powerful finish into the top corner. The defender decisively beat Dieng again with a hooked overhead finish from the top of the box before the break.

Huddersfield’s Josh Ruffels celebrates after  beating QPR
Huddersfield’s Josh Ruffels celebrates after his two goals helped beat QPR Photograph: Zac Goodwin/PA

Luton manager Nathan Jones says he will speak to Southampton about their managerial vacancy on Wednesday, but has insisted that a move to the Premier League club is “not a done deal”.

Speaking after Tuesday’s 2-0 loss at Stoke City, the Welshman said it was a “wonderful honour” to be approached and added: “I hope the fans understand why I’m going for the chat because it’s a different world in the Premier League. I want to be there one day, whether that’s with Luton or with someone else. It’s just an opportunity to go and chat and to find out if it is right for me.”

Jones’ side conceded twice inside the first 13 minutes, both goals coming from left-wing crosses by Morgan Fox. Nick Powell arrived late in the box to head in the opener before Tom Lockyer, under pressure from Liam Delap, diverted into his own net.

Joao Pedro’s double was enough for a victory over Reading that sent Watford into the Championship playoff places. The Brazilian forward scored a goal in each half to give the Hornets a sixth win in 10 games since Slaven Bilic took charge.

Pedro calmly converted from the spot after he had been fouled by Ovie Ejaria as Reading failed to clear a Watford corner. And he wrapped up a deserved victory with a controlled half-volley past substitute goalkeeper Dean Bouzanis late on.

Michael Carrick’s outstanding Middlesbrough dominated Blackpool to claim a 3-0 victory at Bloomfield Road and leap four places to 16th.

Rejuvenated Boro went ahead following Isaiah Jones’ 15th-minute strike and never relinquished control. Carrick’s team scored the second goal their superiority merited when Marcus Forss crashed in a penalty three minutes after half-time.

The excellent Chuba Akpom converted Ryan Giles’ low 65th-minute cross for his fourth goal in four games to end any lingering doubts over the outcome.

Boro, who were winless in their opening six away games this season, have now won three out of four on the road following this emphatic success. Carrick has taken seven points from four games since his appointment last month.

Liam Rosenior was impressed with what he saw from Hull in the 3-2 win at Cardiff despite only having three training sessions with his new team. The former defender took over the Tigers last week and has picked up four points from his first two games.

Having dominated the first half in the Welsh capital, Hull only had a fourth-minute goal from Dimitrios Pelkas to show for their efforts. The boos from the Cardiff fans as the team left the field for half-time showed what they thought of the performance.

Callum Robinson then scored 90 seconds into the second half before crossing for Gavin Whyte to head the home side ahead. But Regan Slater fired in two goals in as many minutes to steal the show to give Rosenior his first win at Hull.

Troy Deeney’s late goal saw Birmingham City claim a point from an entertaining 2-2 draw with Swansea City. Swansea had looked set for a comeback victory having fallen behind to Scott Hogan’s early header.

Olivier Ntcham’s fine 20-yard drive brought the visitors level at St Andrew’s before a rare goal from Swansea captain Matt Grimes. But veteran Blues skipper Deeney struck from point-blank range to salvage a point for John Eustace’s side.

Coventry continued their recent revival as they registered a third consecutive Championship win by beating out-of-form Wigan. The Sky Blues pressed for the opener and were rewarded as the game wore on as Gustavo Hamer fired home a deflected shot. Thelo Aasgaard headed Max Power’s delivery straight at Coventry keeper Ben Wilson as Wigan pushed for a leveller but Viktor Gyökeres pounced on Josh Eccles’ ball to wrap up the win late on.

Championship roundup: Burnley leave it late while QPR draw with Norwich | Championship


Goals in added time from the substitutes Manuel Benson and Halil Dervisoglu saw Burnley again come from behind to win as they beat Rotherham 3-2. The Millers appeared to have pulled off a stunning away win as goals from Ben Wiles and substitute Chiedozie Ogbene twice edged them in front, with Jay Rodriguez providing Burley’s reply.

But the Yorkshire side finally succumbed after Bramall was dismissed for two yellow cards in the 75th minute, setting up Benson for another late rescue act. The Belgian had stepped off the bench to provide a goal and an assist and turn around Saturday’s game against Reading, and this time he curled in a lovely effort in the first minute of added time before playing a part in Dervisoglu’s winner in the 10th minute of stoppage time as the Clarets extended their unbeaten run to 16 games.

Norwich and QPR sharing the spoils in an entertaining goalless draw between two promotion contenders. There were plenty of chances at both ends, with both goalkeepers making excellent stops to keep the scoreline level.

The woodwork also came into play on three occasions, the last of them. coming from the last kick of the game from the home captain Grant Hanley. Teemu Pukki also hit a post for the home side, while Chris Wilcock followed suit for Rangers as the game ended in a draw and kept the fourth-placed visitors two points clear of their opponents.

Sunderland midfielder Alex Pritchard’s first goal since February helped consign his old club Huddersfield to a 2-0 home defeat. Ex-England under-21 international Pritchard struck early in the second half and the on-loan Manchester United winger Amad Diallo wrapped up matters in the sixth minute of stoppage time to leave Huddersfield anchored to the bottom of the Championship table.

Defeat also meant that the Terriers are now without a league win against the Black Cats in nine contests – a sequence stretching back to 1986. Sunderland are 12th in the table with 24 points.

Patrick Roberts crosses for Alex Pritchard to score Sunderland’s opening goal against Huddersfield.
Patrick Roberts crosses for Alex Pritchard to score Sunderland’s opening goal against Huddersfield. Photograph: Ian Horrocks/Sunderland AFC/Getty Images

Watford made it back-to-back away wins as they beat Cardiff 2-1 to move up into the playoff places. It was a fourth win in a row at Cardiff for the visitors and a fifth win in eight games under their new manager Slaven Bilic.

The Hornets replaced Swansea in sixth place with goals from Francisco Sierralta and Ismaïla Sarr completing their fightback after Cédric Kipré had given the home side the lead.

Josh Tymon’s goal just after the hour mark was enough to give Stoke an important 1-0 victory at fellow strugglers Wigan. With the two sides having slipped to third and fourth-bottom respectively after Tuesday’s matches, the stakes were high.

Stoke broke the deadlock just after the hour mark. Tymon driving through the left channel and smashing the ball under the exposed Jones. Wigan immediately went all in, sending on the strikers Josh Magennis and Charlie Wyke for Nathan Broadhead and Darikwa. But they were unable to really lay a glove on the Stoke defence and it needed a mixture of Jones and Whatmough to desperately clear the ball as Stoke threatened a second in the closing stages.

Birmingham and Millwall played out a dull goalless draw at St Andrew’s in which the visitors showed the bulk of the meagre attacking flair and intent on show. The point keeps Millwall ninth, two points off the Championship playoff places, while Birmingham slip one place to 13th.

Championship roundup: QPR stay top while Burnley roar back at Sunderland | Championship


QPR remain top of the Championship after a 2-1 win over Wigan at Loftus Road capped a perfect week for the west London club.

Sam Field put Rangers ahead on 12 minutes, and Leon Balogun quickly restored their lead after Nathan Broadhead’s equaliser. Rangers’ victory was their fifth in six matches and came 48 hours after manager Mick Beale delighted fans by turning down the chance to manage Wolves.

Burnley staged an incredible second-half comeback with three goals inside 19 minutes to beat Sunderland 4-2 at the Stadium of Light.

The hosts made an impressive start, securing a 2-0 lead through quickfire goals from Amad Diallo and Dan Neil inside the opening 20 minutes. But with Sunderland hoping for only their second win in seven games, Burnley showed their promotion credentials by turning things around after the break.

Nathan Tella pulled one back in the 50th minute before Vincent Kompany’s Belgian compatriots Manuel Benson and Anass Zaroury put the visitors on course for maximum points with goals in the 61st and 69th minutes. There was still time with three minutes left for captain Josh Brownhill to put the seal on another win for Burnley, who remain third, while Sunderland sit 13th.

Burnley celebrate Manuel Benson’s equaliser at the Stadium of Light.
Burnley celebrate Manuel Benson’s equaliser at the Stadium of Light. Photograph: Alex Dodd/CameraSport/Getty Images

Teenager Adam Wharton’s first senior goal helped high-flying Blackburn to a battling 2-1 win over Birmingham. The Rovers academy graduate fired in a fine low strike just before the break, adding to the hosts’ 17th-minute opener from former Birmingham loanee Sam Gallagher. Scott Hogan pulled one back with ten minutes to go.

Teemu Pukki spurned the chance to earn Norwich victory and complete his hat-trick as a poor penalty ensured Sheffield United took a share of the spoils in a 2-2 draw at Bramall Lane. Goalkeeper Adam Davies made a comfortable save as goals from Ben Osborn and Ollie McBurnie earned the Blades a point following Pukki’s first-half double.

Substitute Tyler Burey struck a 90th-minute winner as Millwall made it four league wins in a row by coming from behind to defeat West Brom 2-1 at The Den. The hosts are now up to fifth in the table after making their pressure count against the Baggies, who had Kyle Bartley sent off with five minutes left, after Callum Styles had cancelled out John Swift’s opener.

Hull made it back-to-back wins under interim head coach Andy Dawson after a resounding 4-2 win at Rotherham. The Millers headed into the game full of confidence after recording two wins on the bounce under their new manager Matt Taylor, but they were swept aside by their neighbours from East Yorkshire, with goals from Jacob Greaves, Cyrus Christie, Ryan Longman and Ozan Tufan.

Reading ended a run of three successive league defeats with a hard-earned 2-0 victory over Bristol City at the SCL Stadium. Neither side offered much going forward in a drab first half, but Reading made the breakthrough in the 52nd minute, when loanee Mamadou Loum headed in from a Tom Ince corner. And, deep in stoppage time, Andy Carroll made the points safe for the hosts by clinically finishing a quick counter-attack.

Andy Carroll makes the three points safe for Reading.
Andy Carroll makes the three points safe for Reading. Photograph: Jasonpix/Shutterstock

Blackpool upset the division’s tightest defence with a four-goal display to beat Preston 4-2 in a pulsating Lancashire derby. CJ Hamilton sealed the win at Bloomfield Road with the last kick of the game, placing the ball into an open goal from 45 yards.

Jerry Yates had opened the scoring on 30 minutes but Preston hit back quickly when Ben Whiteman scored from the spot. Teenager Charlie Patino then fired the hosts back in front on 68 minutes, before teeing up Yates for his second. A Callum Connolly own goal on 89 minutes gave Preston hope, but Hamilton made it safe in added time, finding the empty net with Freddie Woodman out of his goal having gone forward for a corner.

Coventry’s revival continued as they secured a third successive victory with a 2-0 win at Stoke. The Potters, who slumped to a second home defeat in the space of five days, dominated but to no avail. Gustavo Hamer created the opener for Jamie Allen in the second half and added a second as the visitors closed the gap to safety to just one point.

Leo Percovich’s reign as Middlesbrough’s temporary manager continued with a goalless draw at home to Huddersfield. While Michael Carrick has been widely touted as Boro’s likely new manager, the former Manchester United midfielder was nowhere to be seen at the Riverside as the Teessiders were frustrated by a dogged Huddersfield side, who nevertheless remain rooted to the bottom of the table.

Championship: Blackburn go top and Swansea pull off brilliant comeback | Championship


Blackburn went top of the Championship as they defeated their former manager Tony Mowbray’s Sunderland 2-0 on his first return to Ewood Park.

Ben Brereton Díaz put Rovers ahead when he curled a left‑footed effort into the top corner from the edge of the box, seconds after a Sunderland penalty appeal was turned down. Scott Wharton’s close-range header soon after half‑time put Rovers in control despite a hint of offside. Sunderland pushed to try to get back into the game but they could not find a way past a resolute home defence as Ryan Hedges’s effort from almost halfway with the final kick of the game glanced the Sunderland post.

Jay Fulton scored a spectacular long-range winner as Swansea City fought back from 2-0 down to claim a thrilling 3-2 win against Reading.

Classy finishes from Yakou Méïté and Tom Ince put Reading on course for an away triumph. But Harry Darling’s header made it 2-1 at half-time before Ollie Cooper swept in the equaliser. Fulton’s stunner in the 74th minute earned Swansea a sixth win in eight games as they bounced back from a weekend thrashing at Burnley.

This was a third successive home win for the Welsh club, who climb to seventh in the table, while Reading drop to ninth after their third successive defeat.

There were echoes of Sunday’s power failure at Leeds when the lights went out inside the opening 60 seconds of the game, prompting a six-minute delay.

The Luton striker Carlton Morris scored against the club where he began his career as Norwich City lost their third successive Championship game. Morris, signed from Barnsley in the summer, fired home his seventh goal of the season from Allan Campbell’s assist as the Hatters stretched their unbeaten run to seven games. Norwich went down to 10 men four minutes later when the Scotland international Kenny McLean was shown a straight red card after appearing to raise an arm to Tom Lockyer.

Jay Fulton scored a brilliant goal to give Swansea a 3-2 win against Reading.
Jay Fulton scored a brilliant goal to give Swansea a 3-2 win against Reading. Photograph: Ashley Crowden/JMP/Shutterstock

Teemu Pukki whistled a shot past the post as the Canaries pressed for an equaliser, but there was no way back for Dean Smith’s side as they slipped two places to fifth in the table – below Luton, who moved up to fourth.

Managerless West Brom endured a fourth defeat in seven games as they were beaten by two first-half goals from a resurgent Bristol City. The City top scorer Nahki Wells helped to create the first for the midfielder Joe Williams and then headed the second as the former Albion assistant manager Nigel Pearson made a happy return to the Hawthorns.

The Baggies had made a great start to life after Steve Bruce’s sacking when their caretaker manager Richard Beale led them to a 2-0 win at Reading on Saturday. But limp defending was the root cause of their latest defeat which leaves them a point above the drop zone in 20th.

Preston moved to within two points of the playoff places courtesy of Greg Cunningham’s second-half header as they defeated Huddersfield 1-0 at the John Smith’s Stadium. Both sides had come into the game in stuttering form and it showed, with Preston’s Alvaro Fernández having the best chances towards the end of the first half.

Cunningham headed North End in front five minutes into the second half and Huddersfield failed to get a shot on target as they slipped to their ninth league defeat of the season.

Rotherham moved up to 10th after they beat Stoke 1-0 at the Bet365 Stadium thanks to Ollie Rathbone’s sixth-minute goal.

Championship: Willock stuns leaders Sheffield United as QPR go fourth | Championship


QPR stunned the Championship leaders Sheffield United with a 1-0 victory at Bramall Lane as Norwich missed the chance to go top of the table after drawing against Reading.

Chris Willock’s 51st-minute strike sent the Blades spinning to a first home defeat of the season and pushed in-form Rangers up to fourth place. Willock’s winner came after he played a clever one-two with Ethan Laird and squeezed his shot from an acute angle between goalkeeper Wes Foderingham and the near post. Tommy Doyle came closest to a Blades equaliser from distance, with his effort just going wide, but Rangers held on to make it five wins from seven games.

Second-placed Norwich moved level on points with United despite taking the lead at Reading. Grant Hanley put Norwich ahead from a corner five minutes after half-time but Reading claimed a share of the spoils through Jeff Hendrick’s excellent dipping strike from outside the box 10 minutes later. Paul Ince’s Reading remain in third, two points adrift of the top two.

Luton and Huddersfield shared a six-goal thriller at Kenilworth Road – with five goals coming before half-time. Huddersfield twice led in the first period through a Carlton Morris own goal and a Jordan Rhodes penalty. But Elijah Adebayo’s double saw the Hatters level before Jordan Clark struck seconds before the interval. Ben Jackson equalised for Huddersfield after 70 minutes, but the Terriers finished with 10 men as David Kasumu was sent off in added time for two bookable offences.

Cardiff claimed a first win under their interim manager Mark Hudson as they beat Blackburn 1-0 in the Welsh capital. In a dramatic finale, substitute Mark Harris fired Cardiff ahead with a rasping 20-yard shot seven minutes from time.

Mark Harris celebrates Cardiff beating Blackburn
Mark Harris scored the winning goal for Cardiff against Blackburn Photograph: Cardiff City FC/Getty Images

Ryan Allsop then saved an injury-time penalty from George Hirst after the Bluebirds goalkeeper had brought down Dominic Hyam as Cardiff struggled to clear a free-kick.

Bottom-placed Coventry drew 0-0 at Bristol City. Han-Noah Massengo and Antoine Semenyo went close for the hosts as the Robins sought to end a three-game losing streak. But Coventry were much-improved after the break and Matty Godden saw his second-half header cleared on to the bar by home defender Mark Sykes. Bristol City had late appeals for a Callum Doyle handball in the penalty area waved away.

Sunderland also had to settle for a goalless draw against Blackpool. It was Sunderland’s second such result at the Stadium of Light in the space of three days after they were held by Preston on Saturday.