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Brandon Thomas-Asante’s double secured Coventry a fifth straight victory as Frank Lampard’s side extended their lead at the top of the Championship table by beating Portsmouth 2-1. Thomas-Asante converted his seventh and eighth goals of the season to move the unbeaten Sky Blues four points clear, before Middlesbrough visit Sheffield Wednesday on Wednesday.
The Coventry goalkeeper Carl Rushworth surpassed Horace Pearson’s club-record streak of 608 minutes without conceding – a mark that had stood since 1934 – before his goal was finally breached by Makenzie Kirk’s delightful lob in stoppage time.
Alex Neil hailed his “incredible” Millwall side after they moved up to third despite a relentless injury crisis. The patched-up Lions secured a third straight win, 2-0 against fellow high-flyers Stoke at the Den.
The flying winger Femi Azeez grabbed his third goal in three matches before French defender Tristan Crama hit his first for the club in a sweet victory for boss Neil against his former club. But the injuries are still piling up. Will Smallbone became the latest victim when the Southampton loanee pulled up clutching his hamstring in the first half.
“We nearly had a full squad a few days ago but since then about five players have fallen over,” said Neil. “It’s an incredible effort from the players to be where we are considering how many injuries we have had. Will’s hurt his hamstring which is a blow. I don’t know how serious it is yet. We beat a good side tonight. They were third before tonight and we deserved to win.”
Scott Twine netted a second-half double as Bristol City came from behind to go fourth with a 3-1 victory over Southampton at Ashton Gate. The Saints took the lead on the half hour when Adam Armstrong broke clear onto a precise through ball from Shea Charles and deftly chipped advancing goalkeeper Radek Vitek. But it took City just three minutes to level, Anis Mehmeti converting a similar chance from Rob Dickie’s deflected pass, this time with an unerring right-footed shot from 12 yards when left with only Alex McCarthy to beat.
Twine shot the hosts ahead on 57 minutes arriving unchallenged to net from close range after Zak Vyner’s shot from the edge of the box had deflected off a Saints player and spun back off a post. Twine was on target again seven minutes later as wretched Saints defending allowed him plenty of space to race away and chip past the unprotected McCarthy. It was a special night for Vyner, making his 219th Championship appearance for City, a club record.
Nathan Jones said he was “very proud” of his Charlton side’s outstanding performance following their 3-0 victory over Ipswich at Portman Road, while Ipswich’s Kieran McKenna reflected on the game being a “terrible result” for the club as they lost at home for the first time this season.
The Addicks scored twice through Sonny Carey and Macaulay Gillesphey in a pulsating three-minute second half spell, with Miles Leaburn adding a third as they climbed to fifth. Jones said: “They have got some squad, some team and the first 25 minutes we had to get to grips with it … Then we started to get a bit more aggressive and started to get on the front foot a bit more and felt we had the best chances.
“I think we had four real good chances and at half-time we got into the players and we went after the game. Second half we really went after the game and the goals were excellent goals and that was some performance.”
Liam Millar celebrated a first start for club or country in more than year with Hull’s opening goal in a nervy 2-1 win over Leicester. The Canada international, fit again after an anterior cruciate ligament injury, was also involved in the buildup to what proved Joe Gelhardt’s 31st-minute winner. The substitute Aaron Ramsey pulled a goal back after 67 minutes but Leicester slipped out of the play-off picture after losing for the first time in nine league outings.
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Phil Neumann’s first-half header earned Birmingham their first win in five matches, with a 1-0 victory at Preston. The 28-year-old planted home Alexander Cochrane’s dead-ball in the 33rd minute and the visitors held on against a Preston team with only one defeat in their last eight games. It marked North End’s first home defeat in the league this season but they had enough chances to get something more out of a hard-fought encounter.
Sheffield United scored three second-half goals to come from behind and defeat fellow strugglers Blackburn 3-1 to register back-to-back league victories. In a game of little quality, the signs did not look good for Chris Wilder’s visitors when they fell behind just before the break through Yuki Ohashi’s second goal of the season. However, the Blades fought back in style after the break.
After being given a helping hand through Axel Henriksson’s 54th-minute own goal, United carved Rovers open twice more. Harrison Burrows converted Callum O’Hare’s perfectly weighted pass in the 70th-minute before his fellow substitute Tyrese Campbell slotted a third from close range in added time.
United move out of the bottom three for the first time this season but the second half was bad for Blackburn and their fans, who made their feelings clear at full-time after a result which drops them a place to 23rd.
David Ozoh’s first goal of the season gave Derby a 1-0 victory over Norwich to increase the pressure on Liam Manning. The on-loan Crystal Palace midfielder struck early in the second half to secure County’s first home win of the season and condemn Norwich to a defeat which sent them into the Championship’s bottom three. It should have been a different story after Norwich completely dominated the first half but they failed to take several excellent chances.
