Jack Rudoni’s aim 4 minutes into second-half stoppage time gave leaders Coventry their fourth win in a row with a dramatic 2-1 victory over Stoke.
Haji Wright headed them forward earlier than Ben Gibson equalised on the stroke of half-time with what proved to be Stoke’s solely shot on track. Rudoni capitalised on an error from the onrushing Tommy Simkin in added time to put Coventry eight factors away from second-placed Middlesbrough, who journey to Birmingham on Monday.
Frank Lampard known as the show one in every of Coventry’s better of the season, saying: “We were fantastic today, from the first minute. We should have been two or three goals ahead at half-time for our play, but football sometimes kicks you where you don’t want it to. They get a free-kick in their own half, launch it in the box, get their first corner and score and that’s obviously disheartening.
“But the performance in the first half was brilliant. There was no answer to what we were doing. You just start to worry when the game goes on and we play that well and it’s 1-1, but yeah, the character of the team to get it over the line in the end and get what we fully deserved was brilliant.”
Ryan Leonard’s gorgeous first-half strike helped Millwall edge previous Preston 2-0 in a recreation of attrition at Deepdale. The 33-year-old right-back scored his first Championship aim of the season with a pleasant curling strike in the twenty ninth minute and substitute Luke Cundle sealed the win in second-half stoppage time.
Quick GuideLeague One: Cardiff demolish Doncaster
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Cardiff put their League One promotion drive again on monitor with a convincing 4-0 win at Doncaster. The Bluebirds – thumped 5-2 at Plymouth final weekend – took a first-half lead by way of Robertson, with Dylan Lawlor on track quickly after the restart earlier than Cian Ashford added a third and Callum Robinson wrapped issues up in stoppage time.
Lincoln saved themselves a level behind high spot with a 4-0 over Blackpool. Conor McGrandle’s header gave the Imps a first-half lead, with Rob Street, Dom Jefferies after which substitute Ryan One all scoring in the ultimate 12 minutes.
Third-placed Bolton cruised to a 5-1 win at Exeter, extending their unbeaten run to 10 league video games. Sam Dalby set the guests on their means, with Johnny Kenny, Thierry Gale, substitute Ibrahim Sissoko and George Johnston all on track in the second half.
Improving Stevenage closed up on the highest six with a 2-1 win over play-off hopefuls Stockport. Adama Sidibeh gave County the lead, however Carl Piergianni and Matt Phillips accomplished the turnaround. Reading scored twice late on to come from behind and beat Bradford 2-1 on the Select Car Leasing Stadium. Matthew Pennington had put the guests in entrance, however Paddy Lane equalised in the ninetieth minute earlier than Matt Ritchie headed residence a dramatic winner in the sixth minute of stoppage time.
Huddersfield additionally misplaced floor as they slipped to a 1-0 defeat at relegation-battlers Wigan, with Jensen Weir’s 61st-minute aim proving decisive. David McGoldrick scored a hat-trick as Barnsley gained 3-1 at relegation battlers Leyton Orient and it completed 1-1 between rivals Northampton and Peterborough at Sixfields.
Rotherham boosted their survival hopes as an early aim from Joe Rafferty secured a 1-0 win over Plymouth, whereas backside aspect Port Vale battled to a 1-1 draw towards Luton. Mansfield drew 2-2 towards Wimbledon, with Jonathan Russell scoring twice, and Wycombe noticed off Burton 3-0. PA Media
It is a outcome that retains Alex Neil’s group nicely in competition for an computerized promotion spot whereas additionally pouring extra chilly water on the membership he used to handle, because the Lilywhites’ playoff ambitions fade additional away.
Ipswich maintained their problem for computerized promotion as they confidently defeated Swansea 3-0 at Portman Road. Man-of-the-match Anis Mehmeti gave them the lead with simply three minutes on the clock. Iván Azón added the second in the forty first minute with an acute effort and substitute George Hirst added the gloss with 16 minutes remaining. The outcome moved the Tractor Boys to inside three factors of Middlesbrough with a recreation in hand.
Hull’s supervisor, Sergej Jakirovic, stated he desires to take pleasure in his aspect’s promotion push extra after their smash-and-grab 1-0 win at Portsmouth. The Tigers solely managed two photographs and relied on Adrian Segecic’s double error for Matt Crooks to rating the one aim at Fratton Park, leaving them fifth in the desk. “We didn’t play our game or our style because it was very demanding,” stated Jakirovic. “We have shown this season that we can win without playing well. We will push but I would like to enjoy it more.”
Quick GuideLeague Two: Bromley stretch lead at high
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Bromley prolonged their benefit on the high to 4 factors with a 2-1 win over 10-man Accrington. The guests had Donald Love despatched off after solely 14 minutes after showing to stamp on Michael Cheek, who broke the impasse from the penalty spot simply earlier than the break. Dave Abimbola had Stanley stage in first-half stoppage time, however one other spot-kick from Cheek then bought Bromley residence as they made it 16 league video games unbeaten.
Cambridge noticed two factors slip away after MK Dons snatched a 1-1 draw at Abbey Stadium by way of a stoppage-time penalty from Aaron Collins to cancel out Shayne Lavery’s aim with quarter-hour left. Swindon additionally had to accept a 1-1 draw towards Bristol Rovers, and Notts County slipped to a 1-0 residence defeat towards Grimsby – with Lee Ndlovu having been despatched off earlier than Charles Vernam’s late strike.
Josh March’s stoppage-time aim snatched Crewe a 2-1 win over Tranmere and Salford gained 1-0 at Colchester. Priestley Farquharson struck twice as play-off hopefuls Walsall gained 2-1 at Shrewsbury, who had Josh Ruffels despatched off in added time. Robbie McKenzie’s aim deep into stoppage time gave Gillingham a 1-0 win at Barrow, backside aspect Newport battled to a goalless draw at Fleetwood, Jack Stevens’ double noticed Oldham beat Crawley 2-0 and Barnet beat Chesterfield 1-0. PA Media
Phil Parkinson praised the “incredible resilience” of his Wrexham aspect as they maintained their fantastic away report in the Championship with a 1-0 success at Charlton. The Red Dragons have taken 16 factors from a attainable 18 on the highway to assist gasoline their hopes of a fourth successive promotion. Oliver Rathbone, who signed a contract extension till the summer time of 2028 earlier this week, scored the Thirtieth-minute winner. But Wrexham, sixth in the league, had to stand up to heavy strain from the house group and goalkeeper Arthur Okonkwo produced heroics to deny Sonny Carey a late leveller.
Seventh-placed Southampton’s good run of type continued as they beat Sheffield Wednesday 3-1 at Hillsborough. The League One-bound hosts confirmed spirit to maintain themselves in the sport however in the end, the Saints’ high quality proved an excessive amount of to deal with. They had been undefeated in eight in all competitions earlier than coming into this one and knew three factors had been a should to maintain the strain on Wrexham.
Sheffield United maintained their slim hopes of snatching a playoff place with a 2-0 win at QPR. First-half objectives from Callum O’Hare and Tyrese Campbell secured the victory towards injury-hit Rangers, who’ve misplaced three of their final 4 residence matches and had been second greatest all through. The west London aspect, thrashed 5-0 at Southampton in midweek, had been once more punished for some woeful defending.
At the opposite finish of the desk, Gary Rowett informed his Leicester gamers to present extra combat and physicality if they’re to keep away from dropping out of the Championship. Second-half objectives from Anis Ben Slimane and Ali Ahmed gave Norwich a 2-0 win on the King Power Stadium and saved the Foxes in the relegation zone with 11 matches of the season remaining. Leicester have gained simply as soon as in the league in 2026.
Rowett had impressed some confidence by beginning his tenure with back-to-back attracts on the highway at Stoke and promotion-chasing Middlesbrough, however his first residence match was preceded by a small protest from followers and ended with a refrain of boos.
“Today, it just felt flat from the start, if I’m being honest, it was really disappointing,” stated Rowett. “As a group, as a team, as a club we’ve got a fight to get out of it. We’ve got good players, but there’s no point having good players if we don’t do the basics of the game. There has to be a physical element in the games in order to win them. Today, we lacked a little bit of physicality, I thought, and athleticism.”
Elsewhere on the backside, Oxford scored twice from set items in the primary half as they beat managerless West Brom 2-1 in a tense relegation conflict on the Kassam Stadium. Stan Mills headed them in entrance in the 14th minute from Jamie Donley’s nook, arching again to information the ball superbly into the top-left nook.
That was Oxford’s first aim at residence in greater than 9 hours – since Boxing Day – they usually added one other 12 minutes later when Will Lankshear nodded in a Cameron Brannagan free-kick from six yards which goalkeeper Max O’Leary possibly ought to have come for. Substitute Ollie Bostock pulled a aim again for Albion after 33 minutes with a 25-yard shot that took a large deflection off Sam Long.
And Michael O’Neill known as on his Blackburn group to be extra “durable” after they had been crushed 3-1 at Derby. Rovers, in twentieth, had been nicely positioned at half-time by way of Hayden Carter’s header however the recreation turned on a miss by Andri Gudjohnsen early in the second half and Derby took benefit. The former Blackburn ahead Ben Brereton Díaz slammed in a Fifty fifth-minute equaliser and, after Matt Clarke punished tentative defending in the 74th minute, Rhian Brewster sealed victory with an 82nd-minute header.
O’Neill stated: “The squad is not strong and we don’t have depth and at times the team that finishes the game is not as strong as the team that starts the game. We are going to need some players back and we are going to need some resilience in the current group too.”
On Friday, Jeremy Ngakia’s 77th-minute strike secured a 2-1 win for Watford over Bristol City at Ashton Gate.
