Category: Championship League

• Hardie the hero again as Plymouth move off bottom
• Sunderland, Burnley and Sheffield United march on

The FA Cup giantkillers Plymouth roared to their second memorable win in three days to climb off the foot of the Championship table. Ryan Hardie, the penalty hero against Liverpool on Sunday, scored twice in a thumping 5-1 victory against Millwall.

Joe Bryan’s own goal gave Argyle the lead and another Hardie spot-kick put them two up. Home Park was buzzing again when Mustapha Bundu added the third eight minutes after half-time and Hardie grabbed his second before Bryan pulled one back.

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• Leads win 4-0 away to surge five points clear at top
• Preston and Coventry boost playoff hopes

Daniel Farke hailed Leeds’s “top level” forwards after the emphatic 4-0 win at Watford increased their lead at the Championship summit to five points.

Dan James opened the scoring in the 20th minute after latching on to a misplaced pass from Edo Kayembe. The Wales winger made it 2-0 eight minutes later when Watford were caught out by a swift counterattack. Manor Solomon saw a shot deflected in for the third before half-time, with Joël Piroe slotting in the fourth midway through the second period after Watford were undone with some quick passing in tight spaces.

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• Rovers ‘extremely disappointed’ by Eustace’s request
• Eustace, 45, ended his playing career with Derby

Blackburn Rovers have “reluctantly granted” their manager, John Eustace, permission to speak to fellow Championship side Derby County.

Eustace confirmed after Sunday’s 2-0 FA Cup defeat to Wolves that Derby had made an official approach for his services. The relegation-threatened Rams are seeking a replacement for Paul Warne, who was sacked on Friday.

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• Palace loanee seals 2-1 victory over Portsmouth
• Sunderland salvage late point against Watford

Jesurun Rak-Sakyi struck the winner for Sheffield United as they moved up to second in the Championship with a 2-1 victory over Portsmouth.

Gustavo Hamer struck first for the Blades before Connor Ogilvie’s quickfire equaliser midway through the first half. The decisive moment came on 73 minutes when substitutes Rhian Brewster and Rak-Sakyi combined, with the latter, on loan from Crystal Palace, timing his run to steer Brewster’s low cross into the net. It moved the Blades to within two points of leaders Leeds, and meant a seventh consecutive away league defeat for Portsmouth.

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First-half strikes from Joël Piroe and Jayden Bogle helped Leeds stretch their advantage at the top of Championship to five points with a comfortable 2-0 victory over Coventry.

The visitors were a class above Frank Lampard’s side, who came into the game on the back of four successive league wins. Coventry could only blame themselves for being two goals down at the break. Piroe’s expertly taken finish made Ellis Simms pay for a mistake before Bogle was handed a gift by the goalkeeper Oliver Dovin.

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• Leaders are unbeaten in the league since 30 November
• Sheffield United sink Derby, Pompey hold Burnley

Championship leaders Leeds thumped Cardiff 7-0 to claim their biggest win of the season and extend their unbeaten home run in all competitions to 14 games.

The Wales winger Dan James supplied Brenden Aaronson for a sixth-minute opener before crossing low for loanee Manor Solomon to tap home a second in the 13th minute. The outstanding James scored Leeds’s third five minutes into the second half to cap a fine performance as the visitors’ eight-match unbeaten run in all competitions was emphatically ended.

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• Wrexham lose first home game in 22; Wycombe win late
• Millwall edge out Portsmouth; Walsall lose again

Azeem Abdulai scored a hat-trick as Leyton Orient moved into the League One playoff positions with a 6-2 win at Exeter.

Orient were 4-0 up after 34 minutes with two goals in two minutes from their new signing Abdulai and further goals from Sean Clare and Dilan Markanday. Millenic Alli scored twice for the hosts before Abdulai completed his hat-trick and Jamie Donley’s goal piled more misery on to the Grecians.

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A dull goalless leaves Leeds two points clear of Sheffield United at the top of the Championship, with Burnley a further point behind in third

Email! “You drew the long straw then?” asks Jeremy Boyce. “This is as tasty a match up as you suggested. Top scorers v top defenders. Top of the table v third, in a group of four class teams, two of which will have to go through the nightmare of the playoffs, and they all have experience of that. Is the top of the Championship better than the bottom of the Prem? We’ll find out next season. Burnley need a four-goal win to go top tonight, but I’m thinking a regulation Scott Parker 1-0 would do them. Leeds will need all of their 66% possession to break down the Clarets’ defence. Fast start? Solomon four mins? We’ll find out shortly.”

I can’t see Burnley shutting Leeds out a second time – they won 1-0 at Elland Road earlier in the season – nor can I see anyone finishing above Leeds. They just have too many ways of scoring.

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• Ogbeta’s goal denies Sunderland chance to go third
• West Brom hit five in thrashing of Portsmouth

Sunderland missed out on the chance to close to within a point of the automatic promotion places in the Championship as Nathanael Ogbeta’s 90th-minute strike gave bottom club Plymouth a surprise 2-2 draw at the Stadium of Light.

The Black Cats looked set for another home win as second-half goals from Wilson Isidor and Trai Hume overturned a Plymouth lead that had come through an own goal from home goalkeeper Anthony Patterson. However, Ogbeta struck in the final minute to secure Plymouth only a fourth away point of the season. “In the end, I think we were a bit lucky to win a single point,” said the Sunderland manager, Regis Le Bris.

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• Burnley win 5-0 at Home Park to keep pace with leaders
• Leeds back at summit after 2-0 win over Norwich

Burnley scored five goals in a stunning first-half performance as they hammered relegation-threatened Plymouth 5-0 at Home Park to continue their promotion charge in the Championship.

Zian Flemming and Josh Laurent bagged braces while Josh Cullen also struck in a remarkable opening 45 minutes to leave the Clarets, unbeaten in 15 games, two points behind second-placed Sheffield United.

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• Swansea 1-2 Sheffield Utd, Derby 0-1 Sunderland
• Middlesbrough 2-0 West Brom, Oxford 3-2 Luton

Sheffield United went back to the top of the Championship table after coming from behind to win 2-1 at 10-man Swansea.

After Florian Bianchini opened the scoring for Swansea in the seventh minute, the Blades came out firing in the second half with Rhian Brewster scoring a 47th-minute leveller.

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• Harrison Burrows scores twice in leaders’ 2-0 victory
• Blackburn lose to Oxford; Pompey stun Middlesbrough

Harrison Burrows scored both goals as Sheffield United moved back to the top of the Championship with a dominant 2-0 win against Norwich. Burrows opened the scoring in the 22nd minute, chesting the ball down before firing in a shot which hit both posts before crossing the line. Gustavo Hamer went close with a spectacular effort before Harrison scored his and United’s second from the spot on the hour after Ben Chrisene fouled Sam McCallum.

Cameron Brannagan struck a stunning free-kick winner as Oxford United beat playoff chasing Blackburn 1-0 to make it six league games unbeaten under new manager Gary Rowett. Siriki Dembélé was brought down by Callum Brittain just outside the area and Brannagan drove the 67th-minut e free-kick high into the far corner with goalkeeper Aynsley Pears helpless. United have won all three home games since Rowett took over from Des Buckingham in December.

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Clarets have conceded only nine league goals in 26 games in a complete turnaround after last season’s leaky campaign

“Attack wins you games, defence wins you titles,” was the old Sir Alex Ferguson adage but Burnley would happily accept automatic promotion. They sit second in the Championship thanks to the excellence of their back four and goalkeeper, who are on their way to break records, but a Premier League return is all Turf Moor wants.

Under Scott Parker, the Clarets have conceded nine goals in 26 league matches, collecting 17 clean sheets. Sunderland, one of two teams to have beaten Burnley, arrive on Friday night wondering how to break through the brick wall again.

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• Muslic managed Cercle Brugge until December sacking
• ‘Miron comes with glowing reviews’ says Argyle chairman

Plymouth have appointed Miron Muslic as the club’s new head coach to replace Wayne Rooney.

The 42-year-old former Cercle Brugge manager has signed a three-and-a-half year deal to succeed Rooney, who left the club on New Year’s Eve.

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• Edwards earned ‘legendary status’, says chief executive
• Hatters currently in danger of relegation to League One

Rob Edwards has left his job as Luton’s manager by mutual consent with the club in danger of relegation to League One after four straight defeats.

Edwards led Luton to the Premier League in 2023 but they came down after one season and are only two points above the bottom three in their battle to avoid a second straight relegation.

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