Ibane Bowat’s second-half goal was enough to lead Portsmouth to a vital 1-0 win at home to their relegation rivals Leicester as the Foxes plunged a huge step closer to League One. The substitute Bowat’s scruffy 63rd-minute strike from a corner earned Pompey a third straight win to leave them one win from staying up.
It is now one win in 17 for the hapless Foxes, whose demotion to the third tier 10 years after winning the Premier League could be confirmed as soon as Tuesday night, when they host Hull, dependant on any points deduction for West Brom.
Pompey broke the deadlock in the 63rd minute when an Adrian Segecic corner caused havoc inside the Leicester penalty area and Bowat got the last touch of three Pompey players that crowded the left of the six-yard box at the far post. The Pompey defender Regan Poole later put himself on the line to block a Patson Daka shot and celebrated as if he had scored the winning goal.
Jaydon Banel kept Derby’s playoff hopes alive with the winner in a 1-0 victory that pushed Oxford closer to League One. The home side dominated for large parts of a game both teams needed to win for contrasting reasons and came out on top thanks to Banel’s fine individual goal. In the 22nd minute through he won the ball in his own half and surged forward, holding off two defenders, before firing low into the bottom left corner from the edge of the box. Oxford offered little in the first half but improved in the second only to miss two big chances with Myles Peart-Harris and Yunus Konak failing to hit the target.
Millwall could thank a blistering start as they earned a 2-0 victory over QPR at the Den that lifted them back up to second in the table overnight. One win from their previous five games had stalled the Lions’ promotion push, but early goals from Derek Mazou-Sacko and Camiel Neghli meant they controlled this London derby almost from the first whistle. Alex Neil’s side moved one point above Ipswich – who host their fellow promotion hopefuls Middlesbrough on Sunday.
Millwall were ahead after just three minutes when Femi Azeez’s low cross was cleared as far as Mazou-Sacko, who ran on to the loose ball to power a fine finish past QPR goalkeeper Joe Walsh from just outside the area. It was the French midfielder’s first goal for the club and it settled nerves of Lions supporters that had seen their side lose their last two home games.
Millwall celebrated their second goal in the 17th minute when Mazou-Sacko won the ball and quickly gave it to Neghli, who chopped inside before bending a lovely shot into the far corner.
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