Championship Matchday 21 Review

Championship Fixtures - MatchDay 21
KO	Home		Away	TV
Friday 8th December 2017
19:45	Sheff Utd	1-2	Bristol C	Sky
Saturday 9th December 2017
15:00	Aston Villa	0-0	Millwall	-
15:00	Barnsley	0-3	Derby	-
15:00	Burton	1-2	Preston	-
15:00	Fulham	1-0	Birmingham	-
15:00	Hull	3-2	Brentford	-
15:00	Middlesbro'	2-0	Ipswich	-
15:00	N. Forest	3-2	Bolton	-
15:00	QPR	1-3	Leeds	-
15:00	Wolves	0-0	Sunderland	-
17:30	Norwich	3-1	Sheff Wed	Sky
Monday 11th December 2017
20:00	Reading	2-2	Cardiff	Sky
League Table

After MatchDay 21 in the Championship Wolves remain in top spot but dropped two points at home to relegation haunted Sunderland. Cardiff also remained in second place after earning a point at Reading after coming back from 2 nil down.

Bristol City held on to their third place with a good win away at Sheff Utd, who dropped from 4th to 6th four points above 7th placed Leeds, and City also reduced the gap to second place to four points.

At the bottom Burton and Birmingham were both beaten while Sunderland won a valuable point away at Wolves.

Elsewhere Sheyi Ojo's 14th-minute effort gave Fulham a 1-0 victory over Birmingham, who missed a late penalty through Jeremie Boga at Craven Cottage.

Sebastian Larsson struck a superb 30-yard free kick to ensure Nigel Adkins started his reign as Hull manager with a 3-2 victory over Brentford at the KCOM Stadium. Norwich ended a seven-match winless streak with a 3-1 victory over Sheffield Wednesday at Carrow Road. The Canaries were forced to come from behind after Jordan Rhodes headed the visitors into an 18th-minute lead.

In the London mini-league Fulham won at home, QPR continued their slide with another defeat and have only taken one point in their last 6 games, Brentford lost away and Millwall drew away to Aston Villa. That left Fulham as leader by two points from Brentford. In MatchDay 22 Fulham are away at to relegation threatened Sunderland.

It was another busy weekend for referees with 41 yellow cards being issued over the 12 games, 19 to home players and 22 to away players, a sightly above average of 3.4 cards a game. There were only 2 red cards issued, one for a second yellow.

Three games clocked up 5 cards, Wolves and Sunderland, one card was a red after a second yellow for Sunderland player Lee Cattermole, Hull v Brentford and QPR v Leeds with five yellows each.




Aden Flint snatched a stoppage-time winner for Bristol City as they claimed a dramatic 2-1 victory at promotion rivals Sheffield United.

The Robins, who closed the gap on second-placed Cardiff to three points, took the lead towards the end of a first half dominated by the home side, with Jamie Paterson letting fly with a stunning strike from distance.

Leon Clarke levelled early in the second half with his 14th goal of the season, before the Blades were reduced to 10 men when John Fleck was sent off with just over half an hour remaining.

Defender Flint popped up in the box to grab a late winner for the visitors and condemn United to a fourth game without a win.





Millwall produced a dogged away performance to hold in-form Aston Villa to a goalless draw at Villa Park.

Albert Adomah and Keinan Davis spurned early chances for Villa, but the Lions fought back and threatened themselves.

Jed Wallace forced a good save from Sam Johnstone with a low shot and Lee Gregory struck the crossbar from a tight angle and glanced a header wide.

Villa managed just one shot on target, but a point kept them fifth, six points off an automatic promotion place.



Derby County continued their impressive away form as Barnsley suffered a fifth successive Championship defeat.

Early chances were few and far between before Mamadou Thiam and Harvey Barnes tested Derby keeper Scott Carson.

But the Rams went in front when Tom Lawrence pounced on a loose ball and leading scorer Matej Vydra added the second from Chris Baird's cut-back.

Barnsley's Brad Potts hit the crossbar after the break, but Andi Weimann sealed the win with a powerful shot.

The victory lifted Derby up two places to fourth in the table, while Paul Heckingbottom's side slipped to 20th after losing five in a row at Championship level for the first time since 2009.



Burton slumped to their seventh straight home defeat as Preston skipper Tom Clarke scored at the Pirelli Stadium for the second season running.

Clarke put the Lilywhites ahead, stabbing in at the second attempt from Paul Gallagher's corner.

Daryl Horgan doubled the lead, firing in when Tom Barkhuizen's deflected shot dropped into his path.

Lucas Akins finished from inside the area for the hosts in stoppage time, but North End were worthy winners.

Burton have now picked up just five points from their last 12 matches, with nine defeats in that sequence, and remain bottom of the table.

Preston stay in 10th place, but within five points of the play-off places after their third win in four.



Jeremie Boga missed a penalty as Birmingham City's miserable away form continued with defeat at Fulham.

Sheyi Ojo sidefooted Neeskens Kebano's cross into the roof of the net to score the game's only goal on 14 minutes.

Blues keeper David Stockdale made a fine save to deny Stefan Johansen before Kevin McDonald's foul on Emilio Nsue gave Blues a chance to equalise.

But Boga blazed the spot kick over the bar to leave Birmingham still with only two points from 11 games on the road.

Slavisa Jokanovic's side secured their third win in four Championship games thanks to a third goal in four games from on-loan Liverpool winger Ojo, who was lively throughout.

Aboubakar Kamara and Ryan Sessegnon failed to take chances to make it 2-0, but Boga's miss and Blues' bluntness in attack ensured Fulham's wastefulness did not cost them.



Hull City came from a goal behind to beat Brentford and give new head coach Nigel Adkins a winning start.

Brentford took the lead when Ollie Watkins' low cross was turned into his own net by David Meyler, but Kamil Grosicki's powerful drive made it 1-1.

Seb Larsson found the bottom corner with a 25-yard free-kick to put the Tigers ahead and Jackson Irvine slotted in five minutes later for 3-1.

John Egan pulled one back, but Hull held on for a first win in eight games.



Middlesbrough returned to winning ways as goals either side of half-time were enough to see off Ipswich.

Martin Braithwaite gave Boro the lead just before the break when he pounced at the back post as the visitors failed to clear a Stewart Downing cross.

Patrick Bamford doubled the lead after the restart, finding space in the box for a shot off the base of the post.

Ipswich failed to build on back-to-back wins and could only muster one shot on target from substitute Joe Garner.

Victory for Garry Monk's side came after three defeats in their previous four games and saw them leapfrog Ipswich into eighth place on goal difference.



Joe Worrall scored his first senior goal as Nottingham Forest bounced back from successive defeats to beat Bolton.

Barrie McKay turned in Tyler Walker's low ball from close range to put Forest ahead, but Will Buckley headed Bolton level from Josh Vela's cross.

Worrall pounced on a loose clearance to smash home and Liam Bridcutt put Ben Brereton clear to make it 3-1.

Aaron Wilbraham set up a nervy finale as he reduced the arrears with a deflected finish in stoppage time.

Walker's early goal proved a good omen for the hosts who have won every time they have scored the opener this season.



Kemar Roofe scored a hat-trick to give Leeds United victory at QPR.

The former Oxford United forward powerfully headed home Ezgjan Alioski's cross before adding his second when he finished sub Pawel Cibicki's centre.

Leeds keeper Felix Wiedwald made a horrendous error to allow Pawel Wszolek's cross to bounce over him to give the hosts late hope.

However, with the R's pushing on the visitors broke away and Roofe showed composure to finish his hat-trick.

Leeds are seventh in the table following the win, four points outside the play-off places, with Rangers 19th and only six points above the relegation zone.



Championship leaders Wolves were held to a goalless draw by 10-man Sunderland at Molineux.

The hosts went into the game after six successive victories, but Leo Bonatini's missed effort was as close as they came in the opening 45 minutes.

The Black Cats were reduced to 10 men when midfielder Lee Cattermole was sent off after picking up two yellow cards in as many minutes.

Wolves pushed on for a winner but had to settle for a point.

Despite failing to extend their winning run, Nuno Espirito Santo's men are now eight points clear of third-placed Bristol City.



Norwich City fought back to earn their first home win since 9 September and extend lacklustre Sheffield Wednesday's winless streak to five league games.

The Owls led when Jordan Rhodes nodded in but the Canaries then edged the rest of a relatively subdued first half.

James Maddison's close-range finish on the rebound and Timm Klose's powerful header turned the match around.

Nelson Oliveira added a third from the penalty spot in stoppage time after Barry Bannan slid in on Harrison Reed.

Both sides remain in the Championship's bottom half, with Wednesday falling further behind their play-off rivals.







Cardiff rescued a dramatic draw against Reading with two goals in seven minutes to stay within four points of Championship leaders Wolves.

Reading looked set to end the Bluebirds' four-game winning run after a Callum Paterson own goal and Mo Barrow's strike put them 2-0 ahead.

But Joe Bennett volleyed in to pull a goal back, setting up a tense finish.

And substitute Lee Tomlin's shot off the underside of the bar just crept over the line in stoppage time.

Reading captain Paul McShane almost snatched victory for the hosts, but his header in the final seconds struck a post.

It looked like being a forgettable night for Cardiff when manager Neil Warnock was sent to the stands by referee Steve Martin with 13 minutes remaining, having vented his frustration on one occasion too many.

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