Middlesbrough 2-1 Ipswich Town

Yet another international break has ended, and it was the Riverside that welcomed the return of Championship football. After a blistering start to the season, Rob Edwards’ Middlesbrough side had seen their form stall slightly, with two draws and their first defeat of the season just before the break. Ipswich had been on the opposite trajectory, with a poor start to the season starting to be rectified. Three wins from their last four matches had seen the Tractor Boys within sight of the playoff positions. A first win in fourteen years over fierce local rivals Norwich in their last outing meant they should have come into this one with plenty of confidence.

Both teams had chances in the first half, but the sides looked to be heading into the break goalless before a dramatic final few minutes. As the half was coming to a close, Ipswich defender Leif Davies fell under pressure from former Rover Callum Brittain in the box, and the referee pointed to the spot. George Hirst stepped up, but his shot was at the perfect height for the keeper and too central – saved. No less than three minutes later Boro would make Ipswich pay for this failure. Boro forward Delano Burgzorg got into the Ipswich penalty area and fired a ball across goal – Town defender Cedric Kipre got in a muddle with his feet, causing the ball to bounce off him and into the net. Ten minutes into the second half, Boro would further increase their lead. A cross from David Strelec was pushed out by Town keeper Alex Palmer – but the ball was directed straight into the path of Morgan Whittaker, who duly slotted home. Relief for the former Plymouth man, who hadn’t scored in 25 games for Boro since joining. A corner from Marcelino Nunez was headed in by Ipswich captain Dara O’Shea – Nunez’s second assist in as many games and O’Shea’s first goal of the season – but Boro held on to claim three vital points. 

Middlesbrough remain in 2nd place. Ipswich, still yet to win away this season, are in 12th place.

Oxford United 1-0 Derby County

Gary Rowett’s Oxford team had lost two of their last three, and would have come into this match knowing that these are the fixtures that will define this season’s survival bid. Derby have only won a single game from their first ten, but five draws has meant points are trickling in, albeit not at a pace that will give John Eustace much comfort. Derby had lost one and drawn three of their last four games.

If Oxford were feeling the pressure, they didn’t let their opponents know it. The U’s put on a dominant showing and fully deserved the three points. Twenty-four minutes into the first half, an angled pass from midfielder Brian de Keersmaecker set Oxford striker Stanley Mills away to put the home team a goal ahead. De Keersmaecker now has three assists for the season, whilst Mills – son of Danny – notched his first goal for the club having signed from Everton back in January. From that point onward it was Oxford who looked more like scoring again. Eustace admitted post match that his team “lost their way” after going behind, and never found their way back.

Oxford climb to 19th, whilst Derby hover just outside the relegation zone in 21st.

QPR 1-2 Millwall

QPR went into the international break on a high, having won three of their last five matches and drawing the other two. Millwall’s form had been a little patchier, but they still had a respectable return of eight points from the last fifteen available. Both teams had tasted victory before the two week sabbatical.

Despite being the more dominant team, QPR fell behind in the 36th minute. A defence-splitting lofted pass from Millwall’s homegrown midfielder Billy Mitchell put Femi Azeez through – his first shot was parried away, but he made no mistake with the rebound. A first assist of the season for Mitchell, whilst Azeez notches his second of the season – and his second in two games. QPR fell even further behind just before the break, with Azeez involved again. This time it was his inswinging cross which deflected off the QPR defenders and into the path of Serbian Mihailo Ivanovic, who headed in his first goal of the season. Sadly for Azeez, no assist credit due to the deflection, but he has the assist in spirit if not in reality. Substitute Rumarn Burrell gave QPR some hope with an 85th minute tap in for his second goal of the campaign, but would then miss a glorious headed chance at the end, meaning the points ultimately went to Alex Neil’s Millwall side.

A first home loss for Julien Stephan sees his QPR team drop to 11th. Millwall edge into the playoff places in 6th.

Southampton 0-0 Swansea

It hasn’t been quite the start Will Still would have envisioned at Southampton, with his team having only picked up two victories from their first nine games. They’d only won one match in their last five, leaving them in the lower half of the table. Swansea had similarly only won one of their last five, with neither of these teams having won their last game.

Both would see their records stretch to one win in six by the conclusion of this match. Southampton were by far the better side, having twenty-one shots to Swansea’s six, and an xG of 3.26 versus Swansea’s 0.21. Poor finishing let them down, however, meaning they had to settle for another point – their sixth draw in ten games.

Southampton sit in 16th, Swansea are 13th.

Birmingham City 2-3 Hull City

Birmingham came into this match having picked up five points from the last fifteen available, and having not won in their last three games. Their home record remained strong, though, having not been beaten at St. Andrews since April 2024. Hull, on the other hand, had managed eight points from the last fifteen available and had been steadily climbing the table after a rocky start.

The Tigers got themselves off to an ideal start after just eleven minutes. Kyle Joseph was slipped into the box by Oli McBurnie, and he would then square the ball across goal harmlessly. Well, it would have been harmless, if the ball had not struck Brum defender Jack Robinson and been guided into the net for an own goal. Hull’s lead would only last sixteen minutes, however, as Jay Stansfield pounced on a parried shot to net his fourth goal of the season. Hull were back in front just before the interval, as a powerful diving header from the edge of the box from midfielder Regan Slater – his first of the season – sailed into the top corner. Jack Robinson’s afternoon went from bad to worse as he received a silly second yellow card for dissent, ending his involvement in proceedings just shy of the hour mark. Exactly what Birmingham didn’t need. Hull would spring a counter attack late in the 93rd minute, catching Birmingham out at the back to make it 3-1. Joe Gelhardt slotted home from close range, after fantastic work from left winger Liam Millar on the edge of the area to set up his team-mate. It is the third goal of the season for the Leeds loanee. The goalscoring wasn’t quite finished yet, as Stansfield converted a 96th minute penalty to pull one back for Big Club – but too little, too late. 

The end of Birmingham’s 29 game unbeaten run sees them fall to 17th. Hull climb into 10th position.

Charlton Athletic 2-1 Sheffield Wednesday

Charlton have enjoyed a great start to life back in the Championship, and came into this match having picked up eight points from the last fifteen. The Addicks’ home form is impressive, with fifteen wins from nineteen games, stretching back to last season. Sheffield Wednesday have certainly not been enjoying their season thus far, with the latest disaster being a potential winding up order from HMRC for an unpaid £1m tax bill. On the pitch just one win from their opening ten games had left them spending the entire season thus far in the drop zone.

Charlton’s opening goal came after just seventeen minutes. Sonny Carey’s low shot from outside the box was parried by Owls’ keeper Horvath, but it was Carey who pounced on the rebound before the flat-footed Wednesday defenders, and he lifted his second attempt over the keeper and into the net for the midfielder’s third goal of the season. Charlton would get another in first half stoppage time, as a picture perfect set piece delivery from right-back James Bree was met by the head of defender Reece Burke. A third assist of the season for twenty-seven-year-old Bree, and a first goal for Burke. Wednesday would continue to battle, and in the 69th minute managed to pull a goal back. Midfielder Sean Fusire’s low shot from outside the area bounced off the post, and Jamal Lowe was the beneficiary of the rebound to tap in his second of the season. That would be all as far as goals were concerned, but there was some late drama as Wednesday keeper Ethan Horvath raced out of goal and smashed his knee into the face of Isaac Olaofe just outside the area. The referee somehow missed the incident, but his assistant made him aware of the collision and Horvath was dismissed with 97 minutes on the clock.

Charlton are up to 10th, whilst tragic Wednesday are now bottom of the pile.

Coventry City 2-0 Blackburn Rovers

Frank Lampard’s Coventry are the only team left in the division who are unbeaten. They are also top scorers by a ridiculous twelve goal margin and have the joint-second best defence in the division. So yeah, it’s going alright for them at the moment. After selling or releasing almost all of our Championship experience, Rovers now find themselves scrapping at the bottom (insert shocked Pikachu face here) and went into this match with three losses out of their last five games.

Make that four losses out of six, although in truth there were fears that it would be worse than this. The first half saw Rovers actually play fairly well and create a number of chances, but they were repeatedly foiled by the steady hands of Coventry keeper Carl Rushworth. Any good work was swiftly undone within fifteen minutes of the restart, however.  The Rovers defence failed to deal with a cross from Coventry’s Mason-Clark, and Danish midfielder Victor Torp volleyed into the net from just outside the area. A sixth of the season for him. Two minutes later, things got doubly difficult for Rovers, with an almost carbon-copy of the first goal. A headed clearance, and this time a stunning long-range volleyed shot from the outside of Brandon Thomas-Asante’s boot flew past static Rovers’ keeper Toth and sealed victory for the Sky Blues. 

Two goals that would have made their manager proud, having scored many like them himself in his career. Valerien Ismael expressed frustration in the post-match press conference as to why Rovers have periods of competing in games but so often fail to win. Defensively Rovers are on par with most of the teams around them, but are the second-lowest scorers in the division – suggesting that recruitment in this area has simply not been good enough to make up for the players lost.

Coventry remain top of the division. Rovers slip into the relegation zone in 22nd, although they do have a game in hand on the teams above them.

Norwich City 0-1 Bristol City

Liam Manning’s boyhood dream of managing Norwich is turning into an adult nightmare. Just two wins from their opening nine games has seen the team booed off the pitch more than once. They had lost three of their last four games, and would have been hoping for a bit of a reset after the international break. Gerhard Struber’s Bristol City have followed last season’s trajectory of being in-and-around the top six, but went into this match having lost two and drawn two of their previous four matches.

Another home defeat and another jeering from the home crowd was the end result of this match for Norwich, with Manning’s old team intensifying the early season pressure on the Canaries’ beleaguered manager. Bristol City were the better team throughout, but had to wait until the 73rd minute to break the deadlock. Robins’ midfielder Mehmeti swung a ball into the area, which deflected into the path of Mark Sykes to score his first goal for the club since March. It’s Mehmeti’s third assist of the campaign, with the productive Albanian having also scored four times. One way to rapidly lose the support of the fans is to fail to win at home, and Norwich have lost six out of six. Another way is to lose to your local rivals, which Norwich also achieved by losing to Ipswich in the last match. Disastrous.

Norwich are 20th, with fans increasingly wondering how much time Manning is going to be given to turn things around. Bristol City lift themselves into 7th place.

Sheffield United 1-0 Watford

Chris Wilder hasn’t found it easy to get the Sheffield United team he only left in May to respond to his return. Four losses from the last five games had left the Yorkshire side in a precarious early-season position. The Blades are the only team in the division to have not drawn a game – if they don’t win, they lose... and this season they haven’t won often. Watford had decided to dispense of Uruguayan boss Paulo Pezzolano just before the international break, on the back of a second win in three games, no less.  He was replaced by Javi Gracia, who was last seen at Watford in September 2019 being removed with the club bottom of the Premier League. After being sacked from Leeds in May 2023 after less than three months in charge, he hadn’t managed again until now.

No new manager bounce here, although considering Watford had picked up seven points from their last nine, it arguably wasn’t needed. One would be curious to know what the thought process was behind sacking a manager after going on a decent run, and then hiring somebody who hasn’t had a successful spell at a high-profile club since... well, the last time he was at Watford seven years ago. This game was decided by a close-range effort from attacking midfielder Callum O’Hare, who also scored the only goal in Wilder’s other victory against Oxford. The Blades deserved their win against a Watford side that only managed one attempt on goal. Let’s see how long Gracia gets this time around.

Sheffield United finally move off the bottom of the table after a long period of being the division’s worst team. They’re 23rd and despite having lost eight of their opening ten games, they’re still only two points from safety. Watford slip to 15th.

Stoke City 1-0 Wrexham

Mark Robins’ Stoke side had seen their strong start to the season begin to dissipate over the past few weeks, with just three points gained from the last twelve available. Wrexham have found life in the Championship tougher than any other step up they’ve made thus far under their Hollywood owners, and the first nine games had yielded only two victories.

The Potters would get back on track in this one, thanks to a deflected effort from Sorba Thomas in the 36th minute. The Welshman’s cross nicked under the boot of compatriot Kieffer Moore on its way into the net – but Thomas was nonetheless credited with the goal, his fourth of what has thus far been a solid campaign yielding an additional four assists. Wrexham struggled to impose themselves on the game, and in the end left without any points. One wonders whether Phil Parkinson will be given time to try and adjust, or whether Wrexham’s owners will show a ruthless streak and try a different manager if results don’t begin to pick up.

Stoke remain in 3rd, and Wrexham are 18th. 

West Brom 2-1 Preston

A poor recent run of form had seen Ryan Mason’s WBA begin to fall down the table, having lost three of their last five games. Preston, meanwhile, were unbeaten in their last five with two wins and three draws. Paul Heckingbottom’s side had only lost one game going into this match. Their early season form has been in stark contrast to how they ended the previous campaign.

There were chances aplenty in this one, with a combined thirty-three shots on goal between both teams, more or less equally shared.  Early in the first half PNE’s Harrison Armstrong went down in the box under a challenge from Toby Collyer, but the visitors’ appeals were waved away. Replays showed this to be a lucky break for the hosts, as Armstrong did seem to be fouled. The Baggies would take advantage as a powerful long-range effort from left-winger Mikey Johnston in the 40th minute put them into the lead. Central midfielder Isaac Price curled in a similarly impressive effort at closer range in the 62nd minute to extend WBA’s advantage. A second goal of the season for Johnston, and Price now has four goals to his name. A mix-up in the West Brom defence in the 78th minute allowed Preston’s Daniel Jebbison to square for Michael Smith to convert, giving this entertaining game a fitting finale - but WBA held on to record their second win in three.

West Brom sit in 5th position, whilst Preston move down to 8th.

Leicester City 1-1 Portsmouth

Despite only losing once thus far this season, Leicester are yet to spend time in the top two due to the amount of draws on the board – four from nine games going into this one. Portsmouth had put a run of poor results behind them just before the international break, having beaten high-flying Middlesbrough at Fratton Park by a single goal.

Foxes’ boss Marti Cifuentes would see his side yet again share the points here, as their relative dominance did not get maximum reward. Midfielder Aaron Ramsey, on loan from Burnley, put Leicester ahead in the 26th minute. Right-winger Abdul Fatawu surged into the box and directed the ball across goal. Despite the ball being at an awkward height, Ramsey was able to twist his body sideways and volley the ball into the net from close range for his first Leicester goal. Portsmouth would peg back the Foxes thirteen minutes into the second half, as attacking midfielder John Swift turned his man inside the area and slammed the ball home for his first goal of the season. That was where the goalscoring ended, but a special mention for Portsmouth stopper Joe Bursik, who made a number of fine saves to keep his team in the match. 

Leicester drop one place to 4th, overtaken by Stoke, whilst Portsmouth sit in 14th place.

League Table c/o BBC