Terry Devlin’s double denied Swansea the chance to take top spot in the Championship as in-form Portsmouth won 3-1 at Fratton Park.
Devlin’s first-half goal looked like it was going to be enough for Pompey but Zan Vipotnik, the Championship’s top scorer last season, won and converted an 85th-minute penalty to set up a blockbuster finale.
Devlin’s smart finish from a corner in the second minute of stoppage time and Tommy Waddingham’s strike six minutes later made sure Pompey made it six without defeat, and Middlesbrough – who play on Wednesday – remained at the summit. “It is a massive win,” said the Portsmouth manager, John Mousinho.
Alex Cochrane scored inside a minute as Birmingham buried Millwall with a first-half goal rush to earn a 3-0 win at St Andrew’s.
Cochrane, Max Bird and Jay Stansfield scored with left-footed finishes before half-time to ease the loss of seven-goal striker August Priske with a knee problem. It put City on their way to their sixth win in eight and extended their unbeaten Championship home start to seven games.
Samuel Edozie’s second-half equaliser ensured Southampton and West Brom shared the points from a 1-1 draw at the Hawthorns. Both teams started the season in promising fashion and taking a point apiece means the sides continue their respective unbeaten runs after a game of two halves.
West Brom completely dominated the first half as Southampton failed to register a single shot in the opening 45 and Isaac Price scored from the penalty spot to give the hosts a deserved half-time lead for his fifth goal of the season.
For all the hosts’ dominance, Tonda Eckert’s side turned the tables in the second period and found an equaliser through Edozie. Both teams missed chances to take three points in an entertaining affair which would have lifted either into the top two.
Jack McGlynn scored an audacious free-kick as Stoke held off a late Blackburn comeback to win 2-1. McGlynn caught everyone off guard in the 43rd minute, finding the net with a spectacular set piece from the left instead of the expected cross to score his fourth of the campaign. “For Jack, that’s incredible,” said the Stoke manager, Mark Robins. “To see it, to spot it, to try it – but to execute it is absolutely fantastic.”
Moussa Baradji’s own goal in the 68th minute gave the Potters a deserved cushion as they seemed set for a comfortable victory. But Andri Gudjohnsen’s tap-in halved the deficit in the 87th minute and the Icelandic forward thought he had equalised three minutes later when steering a header into the far corner but referee Andrew Kitchen penalised the striker for a push, much to the fury of the Rovers fans and coaching staff. Despite the late scare, Stoke held on to make it eight wins in 11.
Norwich piled more pressure on the Derby head coach, John Eustace, after thrashing the Championship strugglers 4-0 at Pride Park. On his 47th birthday, Eustace saw his side ripped apart by the pace and movement of the Canaries, who scored three times before the break.
Anthony Musaba, Paris Maghoma and Darlin Yongwa put Norwich in complete control before substitute Jovon Makama wrapped up a third straight win for the visitors and condemned Derby to a fourth defeat in five games.
Derby have won only once this season and Friday night’s home game with Bolton now looks like a huge one for Eustace. “It is very frustrating at the moment but I’m not a quitter,” said Eustace. “I know we can get more out of the group which is something we will keep trying to do.”
Sydie Peck scored a first-half hat-trick as Sheffield United edged past Preston 3-2 at Deepdale. The 22-year-old inadvertently equalised with an intended cross in the 27th minute, put his team ahead with a gorgeous second from just outside the box 10 minutes later, and sealed his treble with a tap-in on the stroke of the interval.
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Leo Leroy had put the hosts in front after just two minutes and substitute Callum Lang set up a grandstand finish with a composed 77th-minute consolation. It is the first time Sheffield United have managed back-to-back wins this season but makes it just one point out of 18 for the new Preston manager, Graham Alexander.
“There are times when we might look like we don’t care or we’re not fully committed but we are,” said Alexander. “We’re just human beings and if you have that period for a long time, six to eight months or something [of struggling] and it can wear you down a bit but it’s only us who can get ourselves out of it.”
Stephy Mavididi’s first goal for Watford earned the head coach, Alessio Dionisi, crucial breathing space with a gritty 1-0 win over toothless Lincoln at Vicarage Road.
On-loan winger Mavididi’s deflected strike less than a minute into the second half was only the Hornets’ second win in eight games and just their second clean sheet since March.
Sam Dalby’s sixth goal of the season earned Bolton a 1-0 victory at misfiring Charlton.
The result piles more pressure on the Addicks manager, Nathan Jones, with the south-east Londoners now winless in 11 matches, A fourth straight Championship loss drops them to 21st in the table.
Jonathan Varane denied Burnley a first win under their new head coach, Fabio Celestini, as QPR fought back for a 1-1 draw.
Largie Ramazani had Burnley dreaming of only their second victory of the season when he fired them ahead at Loftus Road. But Varane’s second-half strike earned Rangers a point, with a little help from the Burnley goalkeeper Grégoire Coudert.
