Roundup of a busy midweek in the Championship as the races for promotion and survivals threw up surprises.
Jake Cooper’s own-goal and Ao Tanaka’s late effort saw Leeds stay top with a 2-0 win over Millwall, in-turn denying the Lions the opportunity to complete a rare single-season treble over Daniel Farke’s Whites across all competitions.
Sheffield Utd slipped two points behind in second after Tyrese Campbell’s 61st-minute strike was cancelled out by Marc Sykes in a 1-1 draw at home to Bristol City.
Burnley remained in third place after Zian Flemming salvaged a 1-1 draw at home to West Brom who had led through John Swift’s free-kick, although the Clarets’ CJ Egan-Riley plus manager – Scott Parker were red carded at full-time following a melee between both clubs.
Sunderland continued to consolidate a likely play-off spot in fourth after Romain Mundle cancelled out Emil Riis-Jakobsen’s effort in a 1-1 draw against Preston on Wearside.
West Brom’s point at Turf Moor saw them leapfrog Coventry into fifth after the Sky Blues slipped to sixth with a 2-0 loss at Derby, as Matt Clarke and Marcus Harkness’ goals lifted the third-bottom Rams to within one point of safety.
Down in the relegation zone, Luton stayed second-bottom but moved to within two points of the safety positions following a comeback 2-1 win at Cardiff – who holds the last safety position, as Thelo Aasgaard netted a 80th minute winner for the Hatters after Jordan Clark cancelled out Calum Chambers’ strike.
Plymouth remain rock bottom but boosted their own survival prospects with a 2-1 win at Portsmouth through Mustapha Bundu and Ryan Hardie’s goals, although Matthew Sorinola’s red card allowed Pompey to reduce their deficit through Adil Aouchiche’s consolatory rebound strike.
Oxford United found themselves four points above the drop after Joe Gelhardt’s effort and Jamie Cummings’ own-goal condemned the Us to a 2-1 loss at Hull who saw Gustavo Puerta red carded late on, having initially led through Michail Helik’s volley.
Elsewhere, Norwich blew a 2-0 half-time lead to lose 3-2 at home to Sheffield Wednesday after Broja Sainz and Ante Crnac’s first-half goals were cancelled out by Michael Ihiekwe and Josh Windass, before Djedi Gassama completed the Owls’ comeback win.
Tommy Conway and Anfernee Dijksteel fired Middlesbrough firmly back into the play-off picture with a 2-1 home victory over QPR, despite Steve Cook’s consolatory strike from a 80th minute corner for the Hoops.
Ali Al-Hamadi netted a 19th-minute winner as Stoke scraped past Blackburn in a tightly-fought contest at the BET365 Stadium.
Finally, Moussa Sissoko’s 27th-minute winner fired Watford to a narrow victory over Swansea at Vicarage Road.
