The battle for automatic promotion from the Championship remains impossible to call as Leicester returned to the summit by beating Birmingham while Leeds and Ipswich both lost.
Leicester sealed their victory in the 89th-minute with Stephy Mavididi’s header condemning relegation-threatened Birmingham to a 2-1 defeat. Gary Rowett’s men had appeared on course for a precious point after Jay Stansfield cancelled out Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall’s opener, but just as Enzo Maresca’s side looked set to pay the price for their profligacy, Mavididi ensured a dominant performance at the King Power Stadium did not go to waste.
Leeds missed their chance to go top after suffering their first defeat in 16 league games at the hands of Coventry. Ellis Simms nodded in his 17th of the season inside the first 10 minutes before Haji Wright’s brilliant finish shortly after half time put the Sky Blues in control. Joel Piroe gave Leeds hope with 14 minutes remaining but Mark Robins’ men remain within four points of the top six.
Ipswich, meanwhile, lost a tense derby at rivals Norwich 1-0, with a game of few clear-cut chances settled by 39th-minute free-kick from Marcelino Núñez. Ipswich have now failed to secure an East Anglian derby win since a 3-2 victory at Portman Road way back in 2009.
Blackburn edged closer to survival as Southampton’s faint automatic promotion hopes took another blow with a goalless draw. John Eustace celebrated his first official win as Rovers manager in style with a 5-1 triumph at Sunderland at the start of a week that saw Saints stunned in a 3-2 stoppage-time defeat at fellow high-flyers Ipswich – but there was no such drama as the teams cancelled each other out at a blustery Ewood Park.
Stoke picked up a precious point in their fight for survival as they came back from 2-0 down to draw with West Brom. The Baggies stretched their unbeaten run to nine but it was a case of what could have been for Carlos Corberán’s side, who could have further cemented their play-off spot with victory at the bet365 Stadium. Celtic loanee Mikey Johnston and Jed Wallace put the visitors two goals to the good with strikes either side of half-time, but Million Manhoef pulled one back before André Vidigal levelled with the rebound after Alex Palmer saved his penalty.
Emmanuel Latte Lath scored an impressive double as Middlesbrough kept their play-off hopes alive with a 2-0 win at home to Swansea. Latte Lath, a summer signing from Atalanta, moved into double figures for league goals this season with strikes either side of half-time as Boro extended their unbeaten run to seven games. Michael Carrick’s side have now kept five clean sheets in their last six games and head for rivals Hull on Wednesday night six points adrift of the play-off places.
Fábio Carvalho scored twice as Hull returned to winning ways with a comfortable 3-1 success at Cardiff. The Tigers had gone six games without a win but two goals from Carvalho put them in control in the Welsh capital. Cardiff briefly got themselves back into contention through Karlan Grant only to see their former striker Jaden Philogene grab a third for Hull just two minutes later and settle the result. Cardiff’s already faint play-off hopes are now effectively over with just one win from their last four.
Substitute Rhys Healey was the Huddersfield hero as his stoppage-time goal was enough to secure a dramatic and potentially priceless 1-0 win against fellow strugglers Millwall. Healey pounced to head home from close range after Millwall goalkeeper Matija Sarkic could only parry Matty Pearson’s effort into his path. The three points lift the Terriers out of the drop zone while Millwall are now just two points clear.
Goals from Djeidi Gassama and Anthony Musaba handed Sheffield Wednesday a vital 2-0 victory at fellow strugglers QPR to boost their chances of staying in the division. The win leaves second-from-bottom Wednesday just a point from Huddersfield in 21st. QPR’s own relegation fears were eased by recent back-to-back wins but this result leaves them just four points ahead of Wednesday.
Preston and Watford played out a tame 0-0 draw at Vicarage Road. Richard Hughes and Will Keane missed gilt-edged chances for the visitors, for whom an away point from a game played in a swirling, unpredictable wind might have been seen as a positive earlier in the season. Instead, with many of their rivals winning, it means that Ryan Lowe’s side are now seven points adrift of the final play-off position.
Max O’Leary was Bristol City’s goalkeeping hero as they also finished with a goalless draw against Sunderland at the Stadium of Light. O’Leary made a series of superb first-half saves as Liam Manning’s side claimed their third clean sheet in a row. Adil Aouchiche and Bradley Dack both hit the crossbar as Sunderland turned in a much-improved display from the Bank Holiday battering at the hands of Blackburn. However, the Black Cats were unable to find a way past an inspired O’Leary and have now won just one of their last nine matches as their season peters out.
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