Championship Matchday 15 Review

Championship Fixtures
Tuesday 31st October 2017
Home		Away	Ref
Burton	2-4	Barnsley	Jeremy Simpson
Cardiff	3-1	Ipswich	Oliver Langford
Fulham	0-2	Bristol C	Scott Duncan
Hull	1-3	M'boro	Tim Robinson
Leeds	1-2	Derby	Simon Hooper
Norwich	0-2	Wolves	Darren England
QPR	1-0	Sheff Utd	Keith Stroud
Sheff Wed	2-1	Millwall	James Linington
Sunderland	3-3	Bolton	Tony Harrington
Reading	3-1	N. Forest	Paul Tierney
Wednesday 1st November 2017
Birmingham	v	Brentford	Christopher Kavanagh
Preston	v	Aston Villa	Peter Bankes

Wolves and Cardiff returned to winning ways with Wolves regaining top spot in the league. Sheffield United slipped up on their vist to QPR but still remain well placed in their race for the top spot.

Fulham slipped down another two places after their fourth successive home defeat to Bristol City and are winless in their last four games. While Middlesbrough jumped five places and QPR leapfrogged Fulham into 12th spot.

In the relegation zone Bolton remain rooted to the bottom place despite an away draw at Sunderland which also led to the dismissal of the Sunderland manager.







On-loan Everton midfielder Joe Williams scored a stunning 30-yard effort to help Barnsley seal all three points with an entertaining 4-2 win over struggling Burton at the Pirelli Stadium.

The England Under-20 international will probably struggle to score a more spectacular goal for as long as he plays the game after booming in a left-footed shot from long range.

The Brewers and the Tykes traded four goals in the first half as Lloyd Isgrove and Brad Potts twice put Paul Heckingbottom's side ahead only for Matty Lund and Lloyd Dyer to square it up again before the break.

Games between the two sides have traditionally been tight affairs with both previous encounters at the Pirelli finishing goalless but this was never likely to end scoreless in a fast, flowing and open game.

Clough's men had looked the more likely to grab the next goal until Williams' thunderbolt and when Barnes fired home late on it put the gloss on a good night for the Tykes.





Cardiff returned to the top two of the Sky Bet Championship as goals from Junior Hoilett, Omar Bogle and Danny Ward gave them a comfortable 3-1 victory over Ipswich.

Neil Warnock's men had failed to find the net in both of their last two home games, but Hoilett's fourth league goal of the season gave them a narrow half-time lead.

Bogle's strike made it 2-0 right at the start of the second period and although Bersant Celina's late goal got Ipswich back into the game, Ward wrapped up the three points.





Bristol City's impressive away form continued as they stretched their unbeaten run on the road to seven games with a 2-0 win at Fulham.

The visitors, who have now won at Craven Cottage on their last four visits, went ahead after 29 minutes through Bobby Reid's ninth goal of the season and Korey Smith doubled their lead five minutes before half-time.

Any chance Fulham might have had of getting back into the game disappeared after 63 minutes when Aboubakar Kamara was sent off after a clash with City captain Bailey Wright.






Middlesbrough clinched a second away victory in the space of four days after defeating Hull 3-1 to end a run of four straight losses at the KCOM Stadium.

Boro had clinched their first win in six Sky Bet Championship matches at Reading on Saturday and they made a fine start in east Yorkshire on Tuesday night when Martin Braithwaite fired home after 13 minutes before Britt Assombalonga put them two goals to the good before half-time.

Substitute Kamil Grosicki pulled one back for Hull with a sumptuous finish in the 72nd minute, but Grant Leadbitter's late penalty, after Ashley Fletcher had been fouled by Michael Hector, killed off any hopes the Tigers had of a comeback.

To compound a miserable evening, Hector was sent off just before Leadbitter's goal as Hull slipped to back-to-back home defeats, having been beaten by Nottingham Forest at the weekend.



Sam Winnall scored two second-half goals as in-form Derby inflicted more misery on Leeds with a 2-1 victory at Elland Road.

The on-loan Sheffield Wednesday striker took his goal tally to three in his last two games to ensure Gary Rowett's side came from behind to claim a fourth consecutive victory, extending their unbeaten run to seven matches.

Winnall repaid Rowett's faith for handing him a start by netting the equaliser from close range before converting from the penalty spot, although replays suggested Tom Lawrence was bundled over outside the box.

Leeds' sixth defeat in their last seven games in all competitions, including three in a row at home, has heaped the pressure on boss Thomas Christiansen following the club's fine start to the season.



Wolves moved back to the top of the Sky Bet Championship table after turning in an impressive performance to beat Norwich 2-0 at Carrow Road.

French defender Willy Boly nodded home his first goal for the club from a corner after 18 minutes to open the scoring before Leo Bonatini made the points safe with a smart finish midway through the second period.

With morning leaders Sheffield United losing 1-0 at QPR the visitors moved two points clear at the summit while a fifth home game without a win left the Canaries stranded in mid-table.

Both sides went into the match with a point to prove after disappointing results at the weekend. The Canaries had slipped to their first defeat in eight league games at the hands of Derby at Carrow Road while Wolves had gone down by the same 2-1 scoreline at QPR.



An extraordinary error by goalkeeper Jamal Blackman proved costly for Sheffield United, who lost top spot in the Sky Bet Championship after being beaten 1-0 at QPR.

Idrissa Sylla's early goal clinched a second home victory in three days for Ian Holloway's side, who beat high-flying Wolves on Saturday.

However, Wolves capitalised on United's slip-up at Loftus Road by winning at Norwich to move back to the top of the table.



Jordan Rhodes' first league goal since March helped ease the pressure on boss Carlos Carvalhal as Sheffield Wednesday beat Millwall 2-1 in the Sky Bet Championship.

Rhodes has hardly set Hillsborough alight since his January move which was made permanent in the summer, but struck the decisive goal just before half-time as the Owls won for only the second time in eight games.

Wednesday, whose fans have been chanting for Carvalhal's head in recent weeks, had taken the lead in the opening few minutes through Adam Reach, but Tom Elliott levelled for Millwall before Rhodes struck the decisive blow.



Sunderland twice came from behind to draw 3-3 against Bolton but it was not enough to prevent Simon Grayson from losing his job after the Black Cats equalled an unwanted record.

The battle of the Championship's bottom two saw both teams take the lead and lose it before Paddy McNair levelled things up for the final time with 11 minutes remaining.

The result meant the Black Cats tied an English league record of going 19 matches without a win on home soil, and Sunderland swiftly announced the dismissal of Grayson after the match.



Nottingham Forest's promising push towards the Championship play-off places came to an abrupt halt when they lost 3-1 at lowly Reading.

John Swift scored early on in the game for Reading and added a second with 20 minutes to go. Forest forced home goalkeeper Vito Mannone into a string of fine saves in the second half but were undone when their own keeper, Jordan Smith, diverted Sone Aluko's cross-shot into his own net. Ben Osborn grabbed a consolation for Forest with four minutes left.

Forest went into the game in good form, with three wins in their previous four matches. Struggling Reading had not won at home in five games in all competitions since late August and lost 2-0 to Middlesbrough at Madejski Stadium on Saturday.





Birmingham striker Isaac Vassell could miss the rest of the season after scans confirmed he has ruptured a cruciate ligament.

Full-back Carl Jenkinson remains sidelined after shoulder surgery and goalkeeper David Stockdale is still out with an arm injury. Jota, Harlee Dean and Maxime Colin will all be coming up against the club they left in the summer.

Brentford midfielder Nico Yennaris is likely to miss out after he was knocked unconscious in the 3-2 win over Preston. Romaine Sawyers and Josh McEachran are among the options to replace the former Arsenal youngster.



Aston Villa striker Jonathan Kodjia faces a late fitness test ahead of their trip to Preston North End on Wednesday, live in Sky Sports Football.

The Ivorian limped off in Villa's 0-0 draw with rivals Birmingham City on Sunday, and the club confirmed his ankle injury will continue to be assessed, adding that the early prognosis was "encouraging".

Preston may have slipped down the Sky Bet Championship table after a four-game winless run, but they can take heart from last season's performances against Villa - where they picked up four points.

brownhill maza tottenham fulham premier league adama traore traore premiership ibrahim maza peter bankes bankes ferguson arsenal tottenham hotspur football rumours craven cottage shahid khan gray evan ferguson championship brighton silva wolverhampton wanderers wolves gabriel schluter bmarco silva man city chris kavanagh boa morte schluter manchester city brighton and hove albion spurs cottage fulham fc transfer rumours josh brownhill marco silva fa cup