Southampton announced themselves in the promotion race with a statement 3-2 win at the pre-season title favourites, West Ham. Kuryu Matsuki, James Bree and Lewis Dobbin were all on target in a chaotic first half, while Kyle Walker-Peters and Tomas Soucek replied for the Hammers.
Nuno Espírito Santo’s side would have gone top with a win but instead saw their nine-match unbeaten run halted. There were thousands of empty seats by the end at the London Stadium, with those who stayed booing the Hammers off. Southampton, deducted four points at the start of the season, are now just two points behind West Ham.
“We started not the way we wanted,” said Nuno. “We were looking at the situations with hesitation, bouncing balls, too many chances for Southampton to have a second phase, third phase and achieve a goal. But the reaction was good in the second half. The boys fought until the end.”
Richard Kone made an emphatic return to form by scoring a hat-trick inside 15 minutes as QPR thrashed high-flying Swansea 5-0 at Loftus Road. Jimmy Dunne struck twice for Rangers, who were four up at half-time, as the Swans – who were top of the Championship until Friday night – suffered their second defeat in a row. The Welsh side remain second in the table, while QPR’s resounding victory moved them back into the playoff positions in eighth.
Adam Armstrong ended his goal drought with a milestone strike to give dominant Wolves a 1-0 win against Watford at Molineux. The 29-year-old striker, returning after a back injury, scored only his second league goal of the season, while it was his first Championship home goal for Wolves, all on his 450th league appearance.
Wolves, though, failed to turn their overwhelming superiority into goals, and the unease around Molineux was evident when the 78th-minute double substitution of Tommy Doyle and Tawanda Chirewa for Jordan James and Armstrong was met with chants of “you don’t know what you’re doing” aimed at the head coach, César Peixoto.
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League One roundup: Huddersfield top; Foxes lose again
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Huddersfield went top of League One after their 2-1 win over bottom side Wigan in the early game was followed by Stockport dropping points. Ilias Bronkhorst and Derensili Sanches Fernandes scored for the Terriers in the first half, with Christian Saydee’s consolation coming in added time.
Although Stockport secured a 1-1 draw at Notts County after Adama Sidibeh’s 81st-minute equaliser cancelled out Scott Robertson’s opener, it was not enough to return them to the top.
Plymouth moved into fourth, just a point behind Stockport, with a 3-2 win seeing them leapfrog hosts Cambridge after Louis Appere’s own goal was followed by strikes from Xavier Amaechi and Aribim Pepple.
Leicester dramatically fell to their fourth defeat of the season to increase pressure on manager Russell Martin. Luton’s Callum Marshall scored deep into added time after Liam Cullen had levelled in the 90th minute, just after Leicester’s John Lundstram was sent off for a second yellow card following Nahki Wells’ first-half opener.
Martin said: “We did so well to get ourselves back in the game with 10 men, it’s so disappointing. Within a couple of minutes, the feeling can be so different. It can feel like a win almost, down to 10 men, a battling draw, brilliant goal and then we concede a goal and it’s frustration. It was the only time they entered our box really, and we gave a goal away. We gave away two poor goals today and that’s frustration.”
Doncaster’s Owen Bailey scored twice in the first 14 minutes to win the South Yorkshire derby 2-0 against Sheffield Wednesday. Press Association
The substitute Aune Heggebo struck late for West Brom to deny Preston a first win under Graham Alexander in a 1-1 draw at a wind-swept Deepdale. The Norwegian came off the bench on the hour and rifled home an 82nd-minute leveller just four minutes after Andrew Hughes hooked North End into the lead from a corner.
Nicky Hayen’s future as Burnley manager is increasingly in doubt after his side slumped to a 4-1 defeat at Lincoln. Burnley went in front through Andreas Hountondji but Ben House equalised on the stroke of half-time. Hayen’s side then fell apart in the second half, with Mikkel Ladefoged scoring twice, either side of a goal from Dom Jefferies. With their team in the bottom three, Burnley fans targeted Hayen and the board with banners and chants.
Hayen said later: “It’s frustrating for everyone, especially the fans. I want to apologise to them, but I know it doesn’t matter because it’s another hard defeat for them and I can understand their criticism. I will keep on working hard as long as I have the chance. But there will be a day if it carries on like this that it stops. I know it’s a really tough defeat and something to think about for the board.”
Cardiff halted Birmingham’s winning run as Yousef Salech secured a 1-0 victory to continue the Bluebirds’ climb up the table. Salech was named among the home substitutes initially, but the defender Krystian Bielik suffered an injury in the warm-up and had to drop out on an afternoon of relentless rain in the Welsh capital. Cardiff have now recorded three straight home wins as they continue to show real signs of adapting to life in the second tier following promotion from League One.
Andri Gudjohnsen’s second double in a week earned Blackburn a clinical 2-0 win over Wrexham. The Icelandic striker’s return from injury has coincided with an upturn in Rovers’ results as goals in each half delivered a third win in five games that moves Tony Mowbray’s side to within two points of the playoff spots.
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Chris Wilder was critical of his Sheffield United side’s “annoying” first-half performance after they had to settle for a point from a 1-1 draw with struggling Derby. Bobby Clark gave the Rams a first-half lead with Patrick Bamford equalising in the closing stages, while Derby had Dion Sanderson sent off in the 66th minute after he received a second booking. Wilder said: “We gave them the game that they wanted. Everybody’s brother was playing first half apart from Kalvin [Phillips] and Coops [Michael Cooper].”
John Mousinho admitted Portsmouth did not deserve to win after coming from behind to beat Millwall 2-1 in a game of freak goals at a blustery Fratton Park. Jenson Metcalfe put Millwall ahead on six minutes after a calamitous pass forward from the Pompey goalkeeper, Nicolas Schmid, and, 10 minutes later, Lyndon Dykes turned the ball into his own net for 1-1. Then, eight minutes from time, an attempted clearance from Millwall’s captain, Jake Cooper, ricocheted off the substitute Thomas Waddingham and into the net for the winner.
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League Two roundup: Barnet held; Cheltenham go third
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Barnet missed the chance to cut the gap to League Two leaders Salford to a point after Oldham’s Mike Fondop’s header in the fourth minute of added time cancelled out Kabongo Tshimanga’s opener in a 1-1 draw.
Cheltenham moved into third, a point behind the Bees, with Charlie McCann’s fifth-minute goal enough to end Newport’s nine-game unbeaten run.
Rotherham moved out of the bottom two in an incident-packed 3-3 draw after playing over an hour with 10 men against a Shrewsbury side who also had Kian McMahon-Brown sent off late on. Paul Mullin scored twice before Kian Spence was shown a red card, allowing Josh Davison, Josh Ruffels and Will Boyle to put the visitors ahead with 23 minutes remaining. However, substitute Tom Bradshaw scored the Millers’ third before Brown was dismissed for an off-the-ball incident with Joe Rafferty. Press Association
“This is the first time this season we’ve got away with one,” said Mousinho. “We were lucky to nick the win off a poor start to the second half and the defending in the first half. But we stuck in it and did everything else really well.”
Philippe Clement saluted the never-say-die attitude of his Norwich players after a 3-1 comeback win at Charlton. The Canaries, on a run of six straight defeats in league and cup heading to the Valley, fell behind to a Charlie Kelman goal. But Paris Maghoma equalised and Mathias Kvistgaarden fired them ahead, before Ivan Mesik’s own goal completed the turnaround.
Stoke and Bristol City played out a 0-0 draw in wet and windy conditions, while on Friday, Will Lankshear scored twice as a Middlesbrough battered Bolton 5-1. Aidan Morris, in-form Lankshear and a Lewis Brunt own goal before half-time set the Teessiders on the way to a 10th successive win over their hosts in a run stretching back to 2014.
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