The Championship season continued with the latest round of games played over the weekend.
Newcastle and Brighton remain 1st and 2nd after both won to leave a healthy gap between them and the chasing pack. Defeats for Blackburn, Wigan and Rotherham kept them in the bottom three.
Here’s a round up of the Championship action from the other games played.
Results
Friday 16th December 2016 – Sky Bet Championship
Norwich City 1-2 Huddersfield Town 19:45
Saturday 17th December 2016 – Sky Bet Championship
Blackburn Rovers 3-2 Reading 15:00
Bristol City 1-2 Preston North End 15:00
Burton Albion 1-2 Newcastle United 15:00
Cardiff City 3-4 Barnsley 15:00
Fulham 2-2 Derby County 15:00
Leeds United 1-0 Brentford 15:00
Nottingham Forest 0-2 Wolverhampton Wanderers 15:00
Sheffield Wednesday 1-0 Rotherham United 15:00
Wigan Athletic 2-3 Ipswich Town 15:00
Birmingham City 1-2 Brighton & Hove Albion 17:30
Sunday 18th December 2016 – Sky Bet Championship
Queens Park Rangers 0-1 Aston Villa 12:00
A third successive win on Friday took – at the time – Huddersfield up to 3rd place. This consolidated a play-off place but was another dent to Norwich’s hopes. This 2-1 defeat at Carrow Road was the Canaries’ seventh in the last nine.
Newcastle knew a win and they would retain top spot whatever Brighton did later in the day – this proved to be the case when the Magpies saw off relegation threatened Burton 2-1 at the Pirelli Stadium.
A third successive defeat – a second with a 3-2 scoreline – saw Blackburn remain in the bottom three and two points from safety. Whereas Reading’s first win in three away from home took the Royals back up to 3rd.
A second win in three saw Preston’s position of 11th secured and also closed the gap to a potential play-off place to five points after this 2-1 win at Ashton Gate. Bristol City’s sixth defeat in seven saw the Robins’ continued slide down the table ongoing.
Cardiff had struggled for goals this season – they’ve now scored five in the last two and went into the meeting with Barnsley seeking successive Cardiff City Stadium wins. A game that witnessed seven goals ended with the Tykes edging this game 4-3 with a dramatic winner.
Fulham missed the chance to sit on the verge of the play-offs when they were held to a 2-2 with Derby – this Craven Cottage draw ended the Rams’ seven game winning run but did extend this unbeaten spell to eight.
A fourth win in five saw Leeds up to 5th after a 1-0 victory against Brentford – the Bees’ defeat at was a fifth in the last seven, however, it came after successive wins heading into this game at Elland Road.
Two struggling sides that would be expected to be much higher in the league met at the City Ground. Nottingham Forest’s second defeat in three – when they lost 2-0 – saw them drop to 16th just a place and a point above Paul Lambert’s Wolves side.
Sheffield Wednesday moved above Derby into the fourth and final play-off place after a narrow 1-0 against struggling Rotherham at Hillsborough. The Millers’ eighth defeat in 10 kept them rock bottom and 12 points from safety.
A fourth straight defeat meant Wigan remained second-bottom and four points from safety. This 3-2 victory for Ipswich at the DW Stadium was a first in four and took the Tractors Boys up to 15th – eight points clear of trouble.
The surprising decision to replace Gary Rowett with Gianfranco Zola at Birmingham saw the Italians first game in charge end in defeat at St Andrew’s. The Blues were on for a victory before a couple of late goals – including a dramatic injury-time winner – saw Brighton come from behind to win 2-1 and close to within a point of leaders Newcastle once more.
Aston Villa’s recent pattern follows a trend – win, defeat, win, defeat so it wasn’t too much of a surprise they recorded another victory at QPR on Sunday. The R’s 1-0 defeat at Loftus Road was their fifth straight loss to leave them just three points above the bottom three.
Who was the MotM? That’s what the latest poll is asking so do cast a vote.
Did a starter, or someone from the bench, offer the most?
Select the name you want from the list in the poll to your right. We’re also looking for some thoughts and views on the game so do share some with a comment or two below.
