Championship Matchday 13 Review
At the top of the table Wolves survived a late scare to win against Preston and cling to the top spot while Cardiff stayed in second spot by goal difference from third placed Sheffield United.
In mid-table Fulham held on to 10th spot with the defeat at Aston Villa but after Ipswich's defeat against Norwich on Sunday. The Cottagers are four points off a top six spot and 8 points off the bottom three.
At the bottom of the table there was more woe for Sunderland who blew a two-goal lead to draw while the other two bottom clubs Burton and Bolton lost and drew.
Battle recommences on Friday 27th Oct with Leeds United facing Sheffield United. Most of the Championship clubs play on Saturday with Fulham kicking off at home to struggling Bolton while the last game of the weekend is Birmingham City versus Aston Villa at midday Sunday.
Saturday 21st October 2017
Aston Villa 2-1 Fulham
John Terry spearheaded Aston Villa's 2-1 Sky Bet Championship home win over Fulham with his first goal for the club since his move from Chelsea.
Terry's opener laid the foundation for Villa moving into the top six for the first time this season, as they extended their unbeaten home run in the league to nine games.
Fulham, unbeaten in their previous four matches including away triumphs at Nottingham Forest and QPR, equalised on the stroke of half-time through their leading scorer, Stefan Johansen, but Albert Adomah settled matters in the hosts' favour four minutes into the second half.
Barnsley 0-1 Hull
Fraizer Campbell scored a late goal as Hull beat Barnsley 1-0 in the Sky Bet Championship to secure a first away league victory since August 2016.
The result at Oakwell pushes the Tigers up to 14th in the table and leaves Barnsley in 19th, hovering dangerously close to the relegation zone.
Substitute Campbell broke the deadlock with a goal from a corner in the 77th minute, ending the visitors' miserable run of away form which had seen them pick up just six points from a possible 72.
Bolton 1-0 QPR
Idrissa Sylla scored for the second successive game as QPR came back to snatch a deserved 1-1 draw at rock bottom Bolton.
The Guinean forward struck with 12 minutes remaining of a scrappy game at the Macron Stadium, adding to his strike at Sunderland last weekend.
Darren Pratley had given Bolton a first-half lead, heading home from close range and piling the pressure on Ian Holloway's side, which has not won a league game away from Loftus Road since February.
The West Londoners will feel they deserved a share of the spoils, however, having spent virtually the entire of the second half camped in Bolton territory.
Syllla supplied the relief with his third of the season, cleverly diverting a Luke Freeman cross inside Ben Alnwick's left-hand post.
Brentford 3-3 Sunderland
Brentford fought back from 3-1 down at half-time to salvage a point in a six-goal thriller with Sky Bet Championship strugglers Sunderland at Griffin Park.
Lewis Grabban's first-half double either side of a Daniel Bentley own goal was not enough to clinch only a second win of the campaign for the Black Cats as Nico Yennaris, Florian Jozefzoon and Neal Maupay ensured the points were shared.
Bristol City 0-3 Leeds
Two first-half goals from Samuel Saiz set Leeds on course for a 3-0 Championship win at Bristol City.
Pierre-Michel Lasogga completed a convincing and overdue victory with a second-half header before both sides were reduced to 10 men as Leeds full-back Gaetano Berardi and City substitute Matt Taylor were shown red cards for a 79th-minute confrontation.
Taylor went down clutching his face, but was judged equally guilty and the incident sparked trouble between the two benches, with stewards getting involved.
Going into the match on a three-game losing streak in the Championship, Leeds needed a good start to boost confidence.
Derby 2-0 Sheffield Wednesday
The pressure increased on Sheffield Wednesday head coach Carlos Carvalhal after his team were beaten 2-0 at Derby and had skipper Glenn Loovens sent off on Saturday.
Wednesday have now won only one of their last six games and they were struggling from the moment Loovens brought down Matej Vydra who scored from the penalty spot in the fifth minute.
The Owls, however, showed spirit and stayed in the match until the 86th minute when substitute Bradley Johnson sealed Derby's victory.
Derby stuck with the team that beat Nottingham Forest on Sunday, but Wednesday made three changes from the defeat at Bolton, with Kieren Westwood returning in goal.
Middlesbrough 0-1 Cardiff
Cardiff kept up the pressure on Sky Bet Championship leaders Wolves as Joe Ralls' late penalty secured a 1-0 win at Middlesbrough.
Ralls drilled home from the spot in the 84th minute after substitute Adama Traore was penalised for a reckless challenge on Nathaniel Mendez-Laing.
The win keeps Cardiff in second position in the table, two points behind Wolves, and saw Neil Warnock's side bounce back after picking up just one point from their previous two games.
Middlesbrough barely tested Bluebirds goalkeeper Neil Etheridge, and the Teessiders have slipped into the bottom half of the table after failing to win any of their last five games.
Boro have struggled in the early stages of a number of their matches this season, and they were on the back foot once again as Cardiff dominated the opening quarter of an hour.
Nottingham Forest 2-0 Burton
Second-half goals from Barrie McKay and Eric Lichaj helped Nottingham Forest see off hard-working Burton and ease some of the pressure on Mark Warburton with a battling 2-0 win.
Nigel Clough looked set to enjoy his return to familiar territory, with his Burton side on top for the first 45 minutes.
But Forest, who had suffered four Championship defeats in their previous five outings, rolled up their sleeves to grind out a victory that left Burton still stranded in the bottom three.
Sheffield United 2-1 Reading
High-flying Sheffield United made it four wins out of their last five games with a 2-1 victory over Reading.
Paul Coutts and Billy Sharp put the hosts 2-0 up at the interval with Roy Beerens pulling a goal back for Reading late on.
Reading's Mo Barrow had an early shot deflected wide after finding some space on the right-hand side of the area. The hosts then began to put Jaap Stam's men under pressure
Wolves 3-2 Preston
Wolves strengthened their position at the top of the Sky Bet Championship as a second-half double from Leo Bonatini helped them earn a hard-fought 3-2 win against Preston.
Preston impressed in the first half but Ivan Cavaleiro gave Wolves a 44th-minute lead with his second goal of the season and Bonatini doubled their advantage from the penalty spot just before the hour mark, and then grabbed his seventh goal of the campaign four minutes later.
Wolves then looked set to cruise to a third successive win - and a fifth in six games - but Preston, who had arrived at Molineux on the back of a nine-game unbeaten run, made them battle all the way for it.
Millwall 2-0 Birmingham
Steve Morison inspired Millwall to a comfortable 2-0 Sky Bet Championship win against a sterile Birmingham side as new manager Steve Cotterill's unbeaten start came to an end at the Den on Saturday evening.
The Blues offered little as an attacking threat in what was a cagey performance, falling behind at the start of the second half when full-back Maxime Colin turned the ball past his own goalkeeper from Morison's cross.
Substitute Tom Elliott made the second with a driving run and shot, which drew a smart, save from Tomas Kuszczak, with Ryan Tunnicliffe on hand to calmly slot home from the rebound.
Sunday 22nd October 2017
Ipswich 0-1 Norwich City
James Maddison fired Norwich to a 1-0 victory in the East Anglian derby at Ipswich on Sunday.
The young midfielder, who has made such an impression this season, netted the only goal of the game just before the hour mark at Portman Road to send Norwich sixth in the Sky Bet Championship.
For Ipswich it was another failure to beat their big rivals, they haven't won against the Canaries since 2009, and it left manager Mick McCarthy winless in seven attempts.