Championship Matchday 28 review

Runaway Sky Bet Championship leaders Wolves were stunned 2-0 by Nottingham Forest at Molineux, the result ended Wolves' 13-game unbeaten run in the league. It was Forest's first Championship win in seven games after taking only two points from the previous six matches. It left Wolves nine points in front of second placed Derby and Forest in 14th spot.

Derby, with just two wins in five games, were denied a late penalty as they were held to a goalless draw by fifth placed Bristol City.

Third placed Cardiff missed the chance to move level on points with Derby as they were held to a goalless draw by Sheffield Wednesday. Cardiff have now managed to lose 11 points from their last five games.

Scott Hogan scored twice in three first-half minutes as Aston Villa beat Barnsley 3-1 to close the gap on second-placed Derby to three points. Villa are on a good run having won their last four games on the trot.

Sixth placed Sheffield United won away at Norwich which was only their second win in five games. The win was enough for them to retain sixth place and prevent Fulham leapfrogging them into the Playoff zone.

An irresistible first-half display from Fulham laid the foundation for a dominant 6-0 victory over Burton Albion at Craven Cottage.

Rui Fonte scored twice as Slavisa Jokanovic's side gained a sixth successive home league victory and maintained their hopes not simply of a play-off place, but even automatic promotion.

Ryan Sessegnon collected his own brace of goals in the second half, with Lucas Piazon and Aboubakar Kamara also scoring in a demonstration of Fulham's attacking prowess.

The result left Fulham one point outside of the Playoffs and six points out of the top two.

Middlesbrough won on the road at QPR thanks to goals from Daniel Ayala, George Friend and Adama Traore and are just behind Fulham in 8th spot.

Brentford won 1-0 at struggling Reading thanks to Lasse Vibe's goal. Reading have not won in their last eight league games and Jaap must be getting worried.

At the bottom of the league Joel Asoro's goal proved enough for struggling Sunderland as they pulled Hull closer to trouble with a 1-0 win, while gaining their second home win of the season.

Birmingham moved off the bottom when they earned a 1-1 draw at Preston.

Referees were slightly busier than normal with an average 3.6 yellows per game but only one red card which was waved and that was at Leeds captain Liam Cooper for a bad foul. The award for the busiest Ref of the weekend went to Darren Bond from Lancashire who booked seven players, three from Reading and four from Brentford.



Championship promotion-chasers Derby and Bristol City had to settle for a point each following a goalless draw.

The Rams went closest, with Aden Flint clearing a Curtis Davies header off the line and Johnny Russell hitting the bar with a free-kick in the first half.

After the break substitute Bristol City keeper Luke Steele saved well from Tom Lawrence and Matej Vydra.

Derby's Cameron Jerome was booked for diving late on when he appeared to be fouled in the box by Flint. Replays showed the Bristol City defender clearly made contact with Jerome, who was making his debut from the bench after joining from Norwich in midweek, but the striker exaggerated his fall.

That decision capped a frustrating night for second-placed Derby, who are now nine points behind leaders Wolves, as they failed to find a way through.



Two goals from Scott Hogan helped Aston Villa to comfortably beat Barnsley and move up to third in the Championship.

Hogan's quickfire double, firing past Adam Davies before heading in a second soon after, put Villa 2-0 up after just seven minutes.

Dimitri Cavare's header reduced the deficit, but Conor Hourihane struck Villa's third against his former club.

Hogan hit the post after the break, while Kieffer Moore and Tom Bradshaw missed chances at the other end.

Victory meant Villa have now won four consecutive league games, putting them back in contention for automatic promotion.


Struggling Bolton remain just one point clear of the bottom three after Ipswich came from behind to claim a draw.

Gary Madine scored his 10th goal of the season after turning in Antonee Robinson's cross from the left.

Ipswich then responded when David McGoldrick set up Joe Garner to tap into an empty net.

Martyn Waghorn almost snatched victory for Mick McCarthy's side after slamming a shot against the crossbar in the final minute.

Josh Vela spurned an early chance for Bolton after wriggling through the Ipswich defence, but Bartosz Bialkowski stood firm to push Vela's toe poked effort away.

Ipswich generally dominated a low quality game but are now without a win in their last four league away games.

Bolton have failed to beat Ipswich in their last nine meetings, a run dating back to 2002, but their point has lifted them up to 20th place.


Fulham extended their unbeaten league run to seven matches as they sent Burton to the foot of the table.

Lucas Piazon squared for Rui Fonte to tap in the opener before Ryan Fredericks teed up Piazon to double the lead with a curling shot.

Fredericks then crossed for Fonte, who stabbed home at the second attempt.

Ryan Sessegnon slid in after the break, then slotted home from close range before Aboubakar Kamara's cool chip capped Burton's miserable afternoon.

Despite their struggles this season, Burton had won three successive away matches as they headed to Craven Cottage, picking up 16 points on the road this season, double their total at home.

But their hopes of extending that record in Nigel Clough's 100th game in charge lay in tatters by half-time against a rampant Fulham side.

They peppered Stephen Bywater's goal with 21 shots - 10 of them on target - as Fredericks created numerous chances at will, while leading scorer Sessegnon turned in another impressive performance and took his goal tally for the season to nine.

The hosts won just one of their first nine home matches in the league this season, but their fifth straight win at Craven Cottage moved them to within a place and a point of the play-off spots.

Burton, who have lost six of their last 10 in the league, were leapfrogged by Sunderland, who beat Hull, and Birming


Jed Wallace's stoppage-time strike gave Millwall an astonishing win in a thrilling game against 10-man Leeds.

The Lions went 2-0 up through Aiden O'Brien and Lee Gregory, while Liam Cooper was sent off before the break for a late challenge on George Saville.

But a double from Pierre-Michel Lasogga, either side of Kemar Roofe's smart finish, put Leeds 3-2 up.

Tom Elliott equalised for Millwall late on and they snatched the points through Wallace's dramatic deflected effort.

Victory for Neil Harris' side was their first away from home this season and left Leeds three points adrift of the play-off places.


Sheffield United held on for victory at Norwich City to remain in the final Championship play-off place.

James Wilson gave the Blades an early lead with a goal on his full debut.

Clayton Donaldson increased their advantage after a mistake in the home defence, only for Ivo Pinto to head home and give the Canaries hope.

Nelson Oliveira fired over as the hosts went in search of an equaliser, but the visitors kept them at bay for a first league win since Boxing Day.

Despite piling on late pressure Norwich could not find a leveller and remain 13th, nine points outside the play-offs.


Championship strugglers Birmingham City came from behind to earn a valuable away point against Preston North End at Deepdale.

Preston broke the deadlock early on as Blues failed to clear a free-kick and Ben Davies was on hand to fire home.

Birmingham levelled as Jacques Maghoma rounded Preston keeper Chris Maxwell and set up Sam Gallagher to finish.

Cheikh N'Doye came close to giving Blues all three points, but his late header was cleared away.

The result left Birmingham City in 23rd place in the Championship table, but just a point away from safety.

Meanwhile, Alex Neil's Preston slipped a place to 11th in the table following the stalemate.


George Friend scored his first goal for two years as Middlesbrough gave manager Tony Pulis his second league win since taking charge by beating QPR.

Full-back Friend fired home from 25 yards after fellow defender Daniel Ayala gave them the lead with a header.

Rangers had won their two previous league games but only tested keeper Darren Randolph once in the first half.

Darnell Furlong headed a chance to cut the deficit wide after the break and Adama Traore made it three late on.

Boro, who have now won all 13 games this season in which they have taken the lead, move up to eighth in the table, just two points adrift of the top six, with QPR slipping to 16th.


Lasse Vibe scored the only goal as Brentford extended Reading's winless run in the Championship to eight games.

Liam Kelly hit the crossbar with a free-kick for the hosts before Vibe fired in at the other end from the edge of the area.

Yoann Barbet headed a Yann Kermorgant flick-on off the line as the Bees held on for three points.

Brentford have moved up to ninth in the table, three points off the top six, while Reading are in 18th place.


Joel Asoro's first senior goal gave Sunderland a narrow win over fellow Championship strugglers Hull City.

The hosts took a deserved lead when Asoro calmly rounded off a good move.

Former Black Cats striker Frazier Campbell should have levelled when he fired wide from Evadro's low cross after the break.

Asoro was booked for diving when he went down in the area under pressure from Michael Dawson in the area as Sunderland held on.

Victory for the hosts was only their second at the Stadium of Light this season and stretched Hull's winless league run to seven games.


Championship leaders Wolves had their 13-match unbeaten league run ended as Aitor Karanka claimed his first win as Nottingham Forest manager.

Kieran Dowell's deflected 25-yard shot wrong-footed keeper John Ruddy to put Forest ahead against the run of play.

The hosts were stunned again just three minutes later when Ben Osborn smashed in a shot from Matty Cash's pull-back.

Wolves pressed after the break, but rarely threatened to break through Forest's disciplined defence.

Both managers rang the changes for contrasting reasons, with the hosts making nine to the starting XI narrowly beaten at Swansea in their midweek FA Cup replay, while Karanka made four for his second game in charge of out-of-form Forest.

The defeat meant Wolves' lead over second-placed Derby County remains at nine points, while Forest's first win in seven league matches lifted them a place to 14th.



Cardiff City were denied the chance to move level on points with second-placed Derby County as they were held to a goalless draw at Sheffield Wednesday.

The Bluebirds edged a poor first half, yet the Owls should have led at half-time, but Jordan Rhodes headed over and Adam Reach sliced over an open goal.

Lucas Joao then missed further chances for the hosts in the second half.

The result left Cardiff with one win in six Championship games, while the Owls have won just once in 12 league games.

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