Sheffield Wednesday threatened to record only their second victory of the season after taking the lead against Millwall before their promotion-chasing opponents hit back to win 2-1.
Having not scored a goal since Boxing Day, there was a mixture of relief and jubilation among the home supporters when Jamal Lowe scored in the 60th minute to put Wednesday ahead. However, the joy was short-lived as Millwall scored two goals in two minutes after Cole McGhee put into his own goal and Macaulay Langstaff’s winner earned all three points.
Millwall included former Wednesday skipper Barry Bannan in their lineup and, such is his standing at Hillsborough, home supporters chanted his name and applauded in the 11th minute. The veteran midfielder joined the Lions after making more than 450 appearances during a decade with Owls.
Derby celebrated a home win for only the second time this year as they beat Swansea 2-0 to move into the playoff places. Swansea had been the better side in the first half but they were undone by two corners after the break with Rhian Brewster and the US international Patrick Agyemang scoring the goals that gave the Rams a league double over the team from south Wales. County’s first victory at Pride Park since New Year’s Day moved them into sixth in the table.
Andre Brooks scored a 90th-minute winner to give Sheffield United their first away victory in six games and keep their hopes of a playoff place alive with a 1-0 success at Portsmouth. The last-gasp triumph leaves Chris Wilder’s side six points off the top six while Pompey are just a point above the relegation zone.
United’s on-loan Manchester City midfielder Kalvin Phillips started his first game since March last year as Pompey dominated the first half, with the home side left to rue a string of missed opportunities.
Milutin Osmajic came off the bench to rescue a point for Preston in a thrilling 2-2 draw with fellow playoff hopefuls Watford at Deepdale.
The 26-year-old returned to the squad after his three-match suspension and struck his sixth goal of the season on 70 minutes to claw the Lilywhites level. Preston had taken the lead through a well-taken Lewis Dobbin strike in the 19th minute but were pegged back by Othmane Maamma’s cool 55th-minute leveller and fell behind due to an unfortunate own goal from Odel Offiah two minutes later.
It was the first match in charge for new Watford boss Edward Still, brother of former Southampton manager Will, and the 35-year-old will have been pleased with his team’s second-half efforts.
Mathias Jorgensen scored twice as Blackburn won 3-1 at QPR in new manager Michael O’Neill’s first match in charge. It was the perfect start for the Northern Ireland manager, who will perform both jobs until the end of the season after this week being handed the task of keeping Rovers in the Championship.
O’Neill inherited a side third-bottom of the table, having won just one of their previous 10 league matches and only two of their past 16, but victory lifted them out of the relegation zone and up to 19th. Jorgensen put them ahead on 21 minutes and restored the lead after Koki Saito’s equaliser before Ryoya Morishita’s goal early in the second half sealed the victory.
