In-form Southampton ended Coventry’s six-match winning run with a 2-1 victory at the CBS Arena. Flynn Downes pounced on a rebound to open the scoring shortly after half-time before Kuryu Matsuki doubled Southampton’s lead with five minutes remaining.
Victor Torp’s stoppage-time penalty gave the leaders hope but they fell to their second home defeat of the season and Southampton extended their unbeaten run in all competitions to 12.
Southampton stunned the home side three minutes into the second half. Matsuki’s cross evaded Cyle Larin and the goalkeeper, Carl Rushworth, and rebounded off a post, where it was met by Downes who could not miss from inside the six-yard box.
Southampton doubled their advantage in fortunate fashion when James Bree’s corner hit the leg of the unmarked Matsuki and rolled past a helpless Rushworth.
Torp stepped up in added time to dispatch a penalty he had won after he was fouled by Shea Charles and the inevitable onslaught followed as Coventry desperately searched for an equaliser.
Quick GuideLeague One roundup: Lincoln set new club record
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Lincoln set a club record after extending their unbeaten league run to 20 matches with a 3-1 home win against Stockport that keeps them top. Tendayi Darikwa and the substitute Alfie Lloyd struck late goals after Stockport’s Jack Diamond had cancelled out Jack Moylan’s early goal.
Michael Skubala’s side made it six straight wins and remain four points clear of closest rivals Cardiff, who won 4-0 at Exeter. Rubin Colwill struck twice in the space of three first-half minutes to put Cardiff in control and Alex Robertson and Callum Robinson added gloss to the scoreline in the second half.
Bolton fought back from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 at Rotherham and stay third. Sam Nombe struck twice in three minutes just before half-time to put Rotherham in control before Bolton hit back through Chris Forino and Sam Dalby’s late header.
Wigan gave their survival hopes a boost and dented Bradford‘s promotion chances with a 2-0 home win, with Caylan Vickers and Joe Taylor. Stevenage climbed up to fifth after Jamie Reid secured a 1-0 home win against AFC Wimbledon and Huddersfield occupy the final playoff place after being held 0-0 at Port Vale.
Caleb Watts’ second-half equaliser earned Plymouth a 2-2 draw at Reading and Luton won 2-1 at Wycombe. Leyton Orient and Doncaster secured respective 2-1 home wins against Peterborough and Blackpool, Burton won 2-0 at Northampton and Stephen McLaughlin fired a stoppage-time equaliser for Mansfield as they fought back from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 with Barnsley. PA Media
Frank Lampard said: “I don’t think we deserved to lose. We created big chances and we gave them two goals, which is disappointing. That’s quite rare for us this season, but if we were more clinical in both boxes we win the game.”
“It’s a big result,” said the Southampton head coach, Tonda Eckert. “We had so many questions this week why we weren’t able to beat teams in the top six and that just fuelled us for the game to make a statement.”
Middlesbrough’s faltering promotion push suffered another blow as Adam Randell’s 96th-minute header earned Bristol City a 1-1 draw at the Riverside. Boro thought they were heading for a much-needed victory when Leo Castledine opened the scoring in the 65th minute. However, Randell headed home Tomi Horvat’s corner deep in stoppage time to level the scores. The draw means Boro have now failed to win their past four home games.
Nevertheless, Boro head coach Kim Hellberg was proud despite another failure to win at home. “It was a top performance, but it’s tough if you don’t kill the game off, there can be an opportunity for a team that have their first chance to score in 95 minutes.”
The substitute Mathias Jørgensen scored twice in the final 10 minutes as Blackburn boosted their survival hopes with a 2-1 victory at Millwall. Middlesbrough’s draw gave Millwall the chance to move into the automatic promotion places and they looked to be heading there thanks to Luke Cundle’s spectacular opener.
But a red card for their defender Zak Sturge changed the contest dramatically as Blackburn produced a late comeback that moved them three points clear of the relegation zone.
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Bromley maintained their two-point lead at the top as Will Hondermarck sealed a 1-0 home win against 10-man Bristol Rovers, who had Shaq Forde sent off late on. MK Dons remain hot on Bromley’s heels in second place after a 2-1 win at Swindon, with Marvin Ekpiteta scoring the winner after Ollie Clarke cancelled out Alex Gilbey’s opener for the visitors.
Cambridge stayed third and gave their goal difference a boost by winning 5-0 at home against Gillingham thanks to goals from Dominic Ball, Louis Appéré, a Lenni Cirino’s own goal, Sullay Kaikai and Shayne Lavery. Notts County‘s promotion bid was dealt a blow as they lost 3-2 at home against Chesterfield and had Oliver Norburn sent off in the first half for throwing an opponent’s boot away.
County twice hit back through Sil Swinkels’ own goal and Matty Platt after efforts from Armando Dobra and Tom Naylor for Chesterfield, but Liam Mandeville headed the Spireites’ second-half winner.
Salford boosted their playoff hopes with a third straight league win as the substitute Dan Udoh struck the only goal at Harrogate, who remain bottom of the table. Pete Wild’s first game in charge of Tranmere ended goalless at Fleetwood, Josh Hawkes’ late effort gave Oldham a 1-0 home win against Grimsby and Albert Adomah struck twice in Walsall‘s 3-0 win at Crewe.
Newport climbed out of the relegation zone after beating Barnet, Shrewsbury lost 3-0 at home against Cheltenham and second-bottom Barrow were held 0-0 at home by Accrington. PA Media
Ipswich climbed to third as goals from Iván Azón and Jack Clarke earned them a 2-0 victory over relegated Sheffield Wednesday. The goals came inside the final 15 minutes as Ipswich moved above Millwall and to within two points of Middlesbrough with a game in hand. Wednesday are without a win since September.
West Brom posted their first Championship victory in 14 matches as they swept aside Hull 3-0 at The Hawthorns. Josh Maja opened the scoring in the 23rd minute and Aune Heggebø doubled the advantage in the 68th minute. Hull had been reduced to 10 men by that stage with Charlie Hughes dismissed for denying a goalscoring opportunity. Isaac Price added a deserved third late on as West Brom moved out of the relegation zone.
Charlie Kelman’s added-time penalty earned Charlton a 1-1 draw at the Kassam Stadium to deny Oxford United a fourth straight league win in their battle to beat the drop. Kelman tucked away the spot-kick in the third minute of added time after Ciaron Brown fouled Lloyd Jones. Cameron Brannagan had given Oxford the lead in the 57th minute, also from the spot – the first penalty Oxford have been awarded in nearly two years.
Birmingham and Sheffield United played out an entertaining 1-1 draw at St Andrew’s that did little for either sides’ dwindling playoff ambitions. Despite a hatful of chances at either end – and the fact the visitors played the vast majority of the game with 10 men after Femi Seriki was sent off – both lost more ground on the top six.
The Blades were reduced to 10 men after 23 minutes when Seriki brought Ibrahim Osman down just outside the area. Marvin Ducksch took the resulting free-kick and lifted the ball over the wall and beyond Adam Davies.
“I can’t believe for the life of me they can just go for making that decision because it’s so grey and it’s not even grey, it’s more towards us,” said Chris Wilder, the Sheffield United manager. “The referee’s not clear on it, the linesman’s clear on it and then the double whammy of an unbelievable free-kick going in the top corner.”
The visitors should have levelled in the 29th minute when Jack Robinson handled what he thought was a dead ball in his own area but Sydie Peck’s spot-kick was too close to James Beadle who saved. Three minutes into stoppage time Patrick Bamford latched on to a pass over the top, took the ball around Beadle and rolled it into the net.
QPR ended a run of four-successive Championship defeats with a 3-1 comeback victory against Leicester at the King Power Stadium to deepen the Foxes’ relegation worries. Jordan James put the hosts ahead with a long-range strike but Harvey Vale levelled before the break.
A Ben Nelson own goal and Ronnie Edwards header sealed a second win in eight matches to ease QPR’s own concerns of being dragged into a relegation scrap while Leicester remain in deep trouble in 23rd place.
Norwich, who had won eight of their previous 10 league games, comfortably saw off Preston, who had recorded one victory in 12 in all competitions, 2-0. First-half goals from Ali Ahmed and Kenny McLean – the latter with a superbly struck free-kick – settled the issue with the minimum of fuss.
“To have got where we are today is a remarkable achievement from all the squad,” said Norwich’s Philippe Clement. “We had nine points after 15 games and in the next 22 we have taken 42 points. That’s an amazing number.
Million Manhoef scored twice as Stoke ended a three-match winless run with a 3-1 victory against Watford. The Dutch winger found the net either side of half-time before Sam Gallagher added a third late on just after Nestory Irankunda’s stunning strike had pulled one back for the visitors.
