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Championship roundup: Birmingham sink Derby, West Brom held by QPR
Championship roundup: Boro win seven-goal thriller; Burnley lose again
Added-time winner from Phillips sinks Norwich
Saints hit four; Burnley beaten 3-1 at Swansea
Ashley Phillips was the unlikely late matchwinner as Middlesbrough edged a seven-goal thriller, beating Norwich 4-3 at Riverside Stadium.
Norwich looking for a third win on the bounce, made the perfect start with 50 seconds on the clock when striker Mohamed Touré hammered in, but within seven minutes Boro had gone ahead. Sebastian Berhalter powered in his first Middlesbrough goal to level, before winger Amario Cozier-Duberry had the Riverside crowd bouncing with a tidy finish.
Norwich fell further behind when Berhalter added his second in the 36th minute, but then fought back when Jovon Makama’s predatory finish 20 minutes from time was followed by an equaliser from fellow substitute Jacob Wright.
However, defender Phillips – with his first league career goal – popped up in the area with the killer blow to secure a third straight home win for Middlesbrough.
League One roundup: Leicester ease pressure on Martin with much-needed win at Stockport
ShowThe beleaguered Leicester manager, Russell Martin, saw his side claim a much-needed win in a League One thriller against Stockport. The Foxes held on for a 4-3 victory at Edgeley Park, their second of the league season, after a double from Emil Riis and one from Johan Lundstram had put Leicester three goals in front. Jack Diamond had cancelled out Liam Cullen’s early opener for Leicester, and two goals in four minutes from Oliver Norwood and Kyle Wootton put the pressure right on the visitors, but they did not buckle.
Sheffield Wednesday, the leaders, dropped points at home as they were held to a goalless draw by Wigan, while it was the same score for second-placed Huddersfield at Mansfield despite the Stags having Owen Dodgson sent off only moments after he came on at half-time. Bradford sit only one point off the top thanks to George Pratt, whose first EFL goal earned a 1-0 win to end Notts County’s unbeaten start to the campaign.
Managerless Wycombe claimed their first victory of the season, triumphing 3-2 at Leyton Orient. Tom Hounsell, who took the interim reins after Michael Duff’s dismissal this week, saw the new signing Jayden Wareham make it two goals in two matches before Jack Grimmer’s own goal pulled Orient level. Fred Onyedinma put Wanderers back ahead just before half-time and Dan Harvie doubled the lead moments after the break, but Jaze Kabia quickly reduced the deficit again.
Cambridge are up to fourth after goals from Liam Bennett and Kelland Watts enabled them to come from behind to beat Reading 2-1, while two very late strikes from Louie Sibley and Gatlin O’Donkor earned Oxford a 3-0 success against Burton.
Plymouth were also 3-0 winners, Olivier Irow, Ronan Curtis and Aribim Pepple scoring against Barnsley, while bottom-placed Doncaster lost again, Myles Hippolyte scoring in a 1-0 victory for AFC Wimbledon. An entertaining encounter between Blackpool and Bromley ended 2-2, and Chris Conn-Clarke levelled late on for Peterborough in a 1-1 draw with MK Dons. Press Association
Cyle Larin scored twice as Southampton hammered Bristol City 4-1 at St Mary’s. Larin scored in either half, with late goals from Kuryu Matsuki and Finn Azaz after Lorent Tolaj had pulled one back for the visitors. Southampton are formidable opposition at St Mary’s and have not lost on their own patch since January.
Swansea moved back into the automatic promotion places as they piled more misery on the new Burnley manager Nicky Hayen, whose side slumped to the bottom of the table with a 3-1 defeat. The victory took Vitor Matos’ side level on points with West Ham at the top. For Burnley, it was a fourth defeat in seven league games and they are still awaiting their first win.
Both goals they conceded in the first half were avoidable and had their shooting been more precise they could have been at least on level terms. The former Leicester and England striker Jamie Vardy came on with half an hour left, and had the ball in the Swansea net nine minutes later only for the goal to be ruled out for offside.
Hayen layer described next weekend’s home match with Derby as a “must-win game”, adding: “I mentioned a few weeks ago that we had to survive until the international break, where we can finally work properly on the training pitch.
“But surviving means taking points and winning games, which we haven’t managed to do enough. What we desperately need is one victory to reward the performance and rebuild confidence. I’ll keep working exactly as I always do. I treat every game as if it were my last, because that keeps you sharp and injects energy into the squad and tomorrow I will put that energy back into the group.”
Chris Davies said his Birmingham side are heading in the right direction after they fought back to win 2-1 at Derby. Davies saw his players dig in through more than 13 minutes of added time to secure a second league win of the season. Derby had gone ahead against the run of play in the 40th minute through Bobby Clark. Birmingham’s response was instant with Carlos Vicente heading in at the back post from Liam Millar’s cross. They scored again in the 64th minute when Paik Seung-ho headed in a corner for his first goal since December.
Davies said: “We’ve looked a completely different team to last season, not only stylistically but just the strength and mental strength. It pains me to say it but we would have lost that game last season.”
Steven Schumacher hailed Bolton goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu’s “outstanding” display after a 1-0 victory over Cardiff. Substitute Thierry Gale headed in a last-minute winner to earn Bolton only a second win since returning to the Championship as last season’s League One playoff champions. Bazunu contributed 10 saves, including a stunning second-half stop to deny Yousef Salech’s close-range header.
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League Two roundup: Charlie Lakin scores twice as Barnet beat Accrington and go top
ShowBarnet took over at the top of League Two after they beat Accrington 2-1 and Bristol Rovers lost 2-0 to Grimsby. Charlie Lakin’s double enabled Barnet to come from behind after Charlie Caton’s first-half opener, with Devon Matthews seeing red for Stanley. Rovers were also reduced to 10 men, but Tommy Leigh’s dismissal came when they were already 2-0 down after goals for Kieran Green and Geza David Turi.
York are a point back after a 4-0 thumping of 10-man Swindon, in-form Alex Newby scoring twice, and Cheltenham also sit on 11 points thanks to a 3-1 win over Crawley. Dylan Morgan opened the scoring early on for Crawley, but two goals for Charlie McCann and one for Andreas Weimann turned the tables.
A topsy-turvy clash between Rotherham and Salford ended 3-3, with the Ammies going from two up to 3-2 down and having Abraham Odoh sent off but Macaulay Langstaff equalised from the penalty spot.
Port Vale are off the bottom thanks to George Byers’ penalty in a 1-0 win over Exeter and are replaced by Rochdale, who drew 0-0 with Walsall. Shrewsbury and Gillingham were 2-0 winners against Northampton and Tranmere, respectively, while Chesterfield defeated Oldham 2-1. Colchester and Crewe played out a 1-1 draw, as did Newport and Fleetwood. Press Association
Dapo Afolayan’s double helped Blackburn secure a much-needed 3-1 win over Millwall at a discontented Ewood Park. The game had not kicked off before the first “Venky’s out’’ chants could be heard but Afolayan, who turned 29 on Friday, gave the home fans something to cheer with a deft improvised flick to open the scoring in the 41st minute.
Although Lydon Dykes’ penalty levelled matters six minutes after the restart, Afolayan’s thumping strike around the hour mark restored the lead. Blackburn managed the closing stages well and substitute Andri Gudjohnsen made the game safe in stoppage time with a breakaway goal to end a four-game winless run.
Jack McGlynn orchestrated Stoke’s first away win since January with a deserved 2-1 success at Watford. A 1-1 draw at Cardiff in midweek had ended a sequence of nine consecutive defeats away from Staffordshire, and Stoke were good value for their first win in 11 road trips – and their third success in four league games. McGlynn opened the scoring on half-time with Eric Bocat doubling the lead 13 minutes into the second half. Amin Nabizada’s reply came too late for Watford.
Watford’s manager, Alessio Dionisi, said: “My players are tired: it’s normal when you play every three days for 10 matches, and we are a good team when we have them all available, but I know our situation. If we stick together and we believe in the future, I’m sure the future will be better.”
Callum Styles earned West Brom a point as they came from behind to draw 1-1 against QPR at The Hawthorns. QPR led through a Chris Mepham own goal in the 38th minute which came completely against the run of play. That lead lasted just three minutes as Styles equalised to extend West Brom’s unbeaten home record to 11 games, while Rangers have yet to lose on their travels this season.
Freddie Draper came off the bench to net a late winner in a hard-fought 1-0 win for Lincoln away at Preston. Draper headed in Andrei Coubis’ long throw in the 81st minute. Lincoln are now unbeaten in their last four league games, while Preston’s nightmare start continues, with three points from the first 21 available.
Lincoln’s joint head coach Tom Shaw praised his side for perfecting “the real ugly side of football … we’re very proud of how we play. We’ve recruited, nurtured and developed a set of players that have got incredible character. We pride ourselves on those horrible, ugly things.”
Charlton maintained their unbeaten home record this season with a 0-0 draw against Portsmouth. The game may have lacked goals, but it was not devoid of entertainment, particularly in an open second half.
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