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Championship Review – Matchday 16

Deke Hardman in Editorial, English Championship 5 Nov 2018

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Matchday sixteen in the Championship concluded with Leeds United returning to the top of the league after coming from behind to win at Wigan Athletic.

The Latics went ahead early on through Reece James though their lead lasted for just three minutes with Pablo Hernandez grabbing the equaliser.

Kemar Roofe then put Marcelo Bielsa’s side in front moments after the restart, and that was enough to seal the victory and see Leeds leapfrog Norwich City back in to first place.

The Canaries rose to the summit on Saturday afternoon after thumping Sheffield Wednesday four-nil at Hillsborough, with all the goals coming in the second half.

Slip

Sheffield United are down to third after they were narrowly beaten at the City Groud – Lewis Grabban’s sixty-ninth minute effort enough to seal the points for Aitor Karanka’s side, who move back in to the play-off places.

Middlesbrough missed the chance to temporarily go top after only managing a goalless draw at Stoke City in Saturday’s late kick-off while Derby County came from a goal down at half-time to beat Birmingham City by three goals to one at Pride Park.

West Bromwich Albion slip to seventh after they suffered a surprise defeat at Hull City, who stay second from bottom while Blackburn Rovers are level on points with the Baggies after they beat Queens Park Rangers 1-0 at Ewood Park.

Outsiders

An eighty-seventh minute penalty from Bradley Dack was enough to separate the sides and move Tony Mowbary’s men to within a point of the top-six.

Former Premier League winners Rovers have been outside of the top flight since 2012 and can be backed at a price of 10/1 to be promoted.

Swansea City looked to be heading for all three points at the New York Stadium, but two late penalties from Ryan Manning turned the game on its head and handed Rotherham United a much welcome victory.

Perhaps the game of the weekend came at the Madejski Stadium where Reading beat Bristol City by three goals to two.

The Royals were twice pegged back thanks to goals from Marlon Pack and Josh Brownhill, only for Leandro Bacuna to hit the winner though the result was not enough to take them out of the relegation zone.

Denied

It would have been, had Preston North End not denied bottom-of-the-table Ipswich Town all three points – Alex Neil’s men above the dotted line on goal difference.

Bolton Wanderers and Millwall are both a point above the drop zone after they both suffered two-nil defeats.

The Trotters were beaten at Villa Park thanks to goals from Jack Grealish and James Chester, who turned in a real captain’s performance having also cleared one of the line at the other end of the pitch in some style while Brentford triumphed over the Lions to give Thomas Frank his first win since replacing Dean Smith in the manager’s hotseat.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Deke Hardman


Freelance football writer with a love of the game that goes back to the mid nineties when both his beloved Nottingham Forest and England had genuine hope of acheiving some level of success. A regular contributor to both SoccerNews.com and FreeBetting.com, Deke also dabbles in music journalism with his heart and head still stuck in the latter years of the twentieth century.

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