Championship Matchday 27 Review
Wolves' lead at the top of the Sky Bet Championship was cut to 10 points as they were held to a goalless draw at Barnsley while Derby won 3-0 at Birmingham.

Nuno Espirito Santo's table-toppers are now unbeaten in 13 league matches but were reined in by the Derby, who moved back up to second place with their victory over the second-bottom Birmingham.

Rowett's side had been pushed into third by Cardiff, whose four-match losing streak in the league came to an end as they thrashed basement boys Sunderland 4-0 at home in the lunchtime kick-off.

In the evening game, Aston Villa's promotion push continued with a 1-0 victory at Nottingham Forest thanks to Scott Hogan's goal midway through the first half. The result put The Villans into fourth place just six points off second place.

Bristol City's promotion push suffered another setback as they were beaten 1-0 at home by Norwich for a third league defeat in a row, James Maddison netting for the away side in the 79th minute.

Fulham moved into eighth spot above Middlesbrough and just two points outside the playoff zone following their 1-0 victory over the Teessiders at the Riverside Stadium, where Oliver Norwood converted a late late penalty.

Burton remain 22nd following their 3-1 home loss to QPR, who are now nine points clear of the relegation zone.

Bolton, a point better off than Burton, dropped to 21st as they lost 2-0 at Brentford, with Florian Jozefzoon and Neal Maupay getting on the scoresheet.

Referees were slightly busier than normal with an average of nearly 3.8 yellows per games and a total of three reds, all to visiting players. The busiest Ref was Simon Hooper at Bristol City who booked one home player and five Norwich players



Ten-man Sheffield Wednesday held off city rivals United to draw their first game under new manager Jos Luhukay.

Owls defender Glenn Loovens was sent off after 64 minutes for a second bookable offence but the Blades, who won 4-2 at Hillsborough in September, could not make the breakthrough.

Dutchman Luhukay, appointed as the successor to Carlos Carvalhal on 4 January, switched to a three-man defence for his first match as a manager in English football.

The Blades moved up to sixth in the table with their point, above Leeds on goals scored.

But they could not secure a first Steel City derby double since 2005-06 and have now won only one of their past 10 league games.



Cardiff City ended a four-match Championship losing run as they thrashed bottom side Sunderland.

A dire first half ended goalless but the first 10 minutes of the second half transformed the encounter.

Callum Paterson headed Cardiff in front before Sunderland's Didier Ndong was sent off for fouling Junior Hoilett.

Joe Ralls added the second goal, Paterson struck again and Anthony Pilkington got the fourth.

That gave Cardiff their biggest winning margin since a 3-0 victory over Aston Villa in August and briefly lifted Neil Warnock's men back up to second in the table.


Championship leaders Wolves stretched their unbeaten run in league and cup to 14 games but were held to a goalless draw at Barnsley.

Helder Costa and Diogo Jota had the ball in the net for the visitors, only to be denied by offside flags.

And Jota also struck the crossbar with a fierce second-half drive against a determined Barnsley side.

Adam Hammill and Stevie Mallan had Barnsley's best efforts, but were denied by keeper John Ruddy.

The draw meant Wolves' lead at the top was cut to 10 points by Derby, who won 3-0 at Birmingham City, while Barnsley remained 19th, three points clear of the relegation places.


Matej Vydra scored his 16th goal of the season as Derby County gained ground on Championship leaders Wolves with victory at struggling Birmingham City.

Johnny Russell put Derby ahead, finishing a fine run into the box with an effort that appeared to deflect off a defender and inside the near post.

Vydra rifled home to make it 2-0, and Andreas Weimann tapped in a late third as Derby moved back up to second.

With Wolves held to a goalless draw at Barnsley, Gary Rowett's Rams reduced the gap to the runaway leaders to 10 points.


Bolton remained just a point above the Championship relegation zone after defeat at in-form Brentford.

Winger Florian Jozefzoon finished from close range to put the Bees ahead after latching onto Lasse Vibe's pass.

Neal Maupay ensured Brentford extended their unbeaten run to 13 home league games when he fired in from close range in the closing stages.

The Bees remain 11th in the Championship table, but move to three points behind sixth-placed Sheffield United.


James Maddison scored the only goal as Norwich beat promotion-chasing Bristol City at Ashton Gate.

The Robins saw far more of the ball throughout the game but struggled to break down the visitors' defence.

Maddison's late effort extended Bristol City's miserable run against their opponents, having now failed to win in the past six meetings between the two sides.

And Lee Johnson's side, beaten narrowly by Premier League leaders Manchester City in the EFL Cup semi-final first leg on Tuesday, are now winless in five games in all competitions.


Teenager Aramide Oteh scored his first senior goal to helped Queens Park Rangers overcome Burton for the first time.

Conor Washington hit the post after the break, but eventually added a second for QPR after rounding Stephen Bywater. Massimo Luongo then swapped passes with Washington before sliding in the third.

QPR had failed to beat Burton in four previous attempts, a run that included being knocked out in the second round of the League Cup in August 2014 when the R's were still a Premier League side and the Brewers were playing three divisions below them.

Victory came just a week after their FA Cup exit to League One side MK Dons and lifted Ian Holloway's side up to 14th in the table.


Reading's winless run was extended to eight matches in all competitions as they were held to a goalless draw at fellow Championship strugglers Hull.

Jon Toral had a goal disallowed after being ruled to have kicked the ball out of Royals keeper Vito Mannone's hands.

The Royals have failed to score in three successive games, having been held to another goalless draw by League Two side Stevenage in the FA Cup in their previous fixture.

Jaap Stam's side reached the play-off final last season, but they are only five points above the relegation zone after 27 games this term.


Ipswich Town denied 10-man Leeds United the chance to move back into the Championship play-off places, thanks to Bersant Celina's long-range strike.

Celina curled the ball over Felix Wiedwald from 30 yards after Kalvin Phillips lost his footing.

Leeds midfielder Eunan O'Kane was shown a straight red card for an off-the-ball incident involving Jonas Knudsen.

15:00

Middlesbrough

0-1

Fulham

-

15:00

Millwall

1-1

Preston

-

17:30

N. Forest

0-1

Aston Villa

Sky

Championship Fixtures - MatchDay 28
KO	Home		Away	TV
Friday 19th January 2018
19:45	Derby	v	Bristol C	Sky
Saturday 20th January 2018
15:00	Aston Villa	v	Barnsley	-
15:00	Bolton	v	Ipswich	-
15:00	Fulham	v	Burton	-
15:00	Leeds	v	Millwall	-
15:00	Norwich	v	Sheff Utd	-
15:00	Preston	v	Birmingham	-
15:00	QPR	v	Middlesbrough	-
15:00	Reading	v	Brentford	-
15:00	Sunderland	v	Hull	-
15:00	Wolves	v	N. Forest	-
17:30	Sheff Wed	v	Cardiff	Sky
League Table