Blackburn Rovers 1-3 Sheffield United

Sheffield United had only scored four times before coming to Ewood Park – where they almost doubled their entire season’s tally of goals against a side that look to be heading down to League One without significant, rapid improvement.

Things seemed to be going well enough at half time for Rovers. Despite the first twenty minutes not seeing a shot from either side, Rovers were able to find the net towards the end of the half. A drilled cross from Andri Gudjohnsen was met by Dion de Neve, who attempted to shoot but predictably mishit the ball – fortunately for him it bounced into the path of Yuki Ohashi. With the Sheffield United defence having briefly disappeared into another dimension, Ohashi slotted home his second of the season.  Sheffield United were likely given a stern talking to by Chris Wilder at half time, and proceeded to come out in the second half and put three past a strangely placid Rovers. An own goal from Henriksson, as he prioritised wrestling with his opponent in the box over paying attention to the ball, brought the teams level in the 54th minute.  Harrison Burrows put the Blades ahead in the 70th minute with his first goal of the season, and the game was wrapped up by Tyrese Campbell in the 92nd minute for his third of the campaign.

Valerien Ismael said post-match that this was a “great performance” from his Rovers side. Hmm.

Rovers have lost four of their last five games and fall to 23rd, whilst Sheffield United haul themselves out of the relegation zone and into 21st place with a third win in six games.

Derby County 1-0 Norwich City

A single goal from David Ozoh was enough to give Derby a narrow home victory against a dismal Norwich side who are collapsing at an astonishing rate. Norwich now haven’t won in seven games, and Liam Manning cannot afford for this dreadful form to continue for much longer. John Eustace had demanded a response from his players after being beaten by fellow strugglers Oxford at the weekend, and the Rams responded to their manager’s request. Norwich had actually been much better than Derby in the first half, but failed to capitalise and were punished ten minutes after the restart when Derby’s £6m summer signing Patrick Agyemang set up Ozoh to fire the ball into the top corner for his first goal of the season.

Just a second win of the season helps Derby up to 19th place, whilst a fifth defeat in six games drags Norwich into the relegation zone – 22nd.

Hull City 2-1 Leicester City

Hull would have come into this match with plenty of confidence, having won three of their last five games, including their last two. Leicester meanwhile had become the draw specialists of the Championship, with four draws in their last five games. They went one worse and lost this one - only their second defeat of the season, but a result that will still increase pressure on Marti Cifuentes, whose Leicester team are not producing the results or performances expected of them. Liam Millar was starting for the first time in just under a year for the Tigers, and immediately got into the swing of things by curling in a goal from the edge of the penalty area after six minutes. Joe Gelhardt, who had assisted Millar’s opener, turned scorer after putting away a cross from Ryan Giles. A first goal of the season for Canadian Millar, and a fourth goal of the season for Gelhardt. Aaron Ramsey got one back for the Foxes in the 67th minute, but despite late pressure they were unable to rescue a point.

A third win in a row puts Hull in 7th place, whilst defeat means Leicester drop all the way down to 9th. With that being so, it means that at the time of writing none of the relegated Premier League clubs are in the top six. When was the last time that was the case after eleven games?

Ipswich Town 0-3 Charlton Athletic

Speaking of relegated Premier League clubs, Ipswich had a shocker here as they were beaten 3-0 by newly-promoted Charlton at Portman Road. Ipswich had looked to be getting back on track after a poor start to the season, but defeat here is now their second in a row. Amazingly Ipswich had thirty-one shots on goal in this match, but just five on target. Charlton had eight on target during the match, and made three of these count within twelve second half minutes (the 52nd, 55th and 64th) to condemn the Tractor Boys to home defeat. The goals were scored by Sonny Carey (fourth of the season), Macaulay Gillesphey (second of the season) and Miles Leaburn (first goal of the season).

Defeat sees Ipswich stuck in 14th, whilst a fourth win in six games pushes Charlton up to 5th. Not bad going so far for the team who came up via the playoffs last season. 

Millwall 2-0 Stoke City

Millwall had won their last two matches and overall lost just once in their last five matches. Their excellent form continued at the Den as they handily dispatched of a Stoke side who have seen their early season form melt away over the past few weeks. Defeat here means Stoke have only won one of their last six games. Femi Azeez has been in incredible form for Millwall lately and once again delivered, opening the scoring in the 10th minute for his third goal in three matches. Tristan Crama then added a second in the 21st minute – the centre-back’s first of the campaign - and Stoke were not able to recover from this disastrous opening. Both goals were assisted by the ever-threatening Thierno Ballo on the wing, and he now has three assists for the season.

Millwall surge up to 3rd place, with Stoke falling to 6th.

Portsmouth 1-2 Coventry City

Coventry continue to fly high, as yet another win for the Sky Blues sees Frank Lampard’s men retain their record of being the only unbeaten team in the Championship. Ellis Simms and Brandon Thomas-Asante combined in both the 30th and 56th minute to give Coventry a two goal lead. Simms first two assists of the season, but certainly not Thomas-Asanate’s first goals – he’s now on eight. Portsmouth clawed a consolation back in the 96th minute as Makenzie Kirk lobbed Coventry’s Carl Rushworth for his first of the season in his third appearance. 

Portsmouth fall to 17th position. Five wins in a row keeps Coventry top of the pile.

Preston 0-1 Birmingham City

Birmingham bounced back from a run of four games without a win by securing a narrow victory over a Preston side who have now lost two in a row, stalling their early season momentum. German defender Phil Neumann scored the only goal of the game, nodding in a free kick from Alex Cochrane. Preston pushed hard for an equaliser – having seventeen shots overall – but Brum held firm and walked away with all three points.

Preston drop to 11th, Birmingham climb to 13th.

Bristol City 3-1 Southampton

Southampton have only won two games all season, and found no respite at Ashton Gate where the hosts sent them packing with nothing to show for their efforts. Adam Armstrong’s fourth of the season had given the Saints the lead on the half-hour mark, but their advantage lasted just three minutes before Bristol City’s dangerous attacking-midfielder Anis Mehmeti levelled proceedings. Five goals and three assists now for the Albanian. Scott Twine would then score a brace within seven minutes (57th and 64th minute) to put the game to bed – five goals for him, as well, this season.

Bristol City, with two wins out of two, sit in 4th place. Southampton continue to massively underachieve in 18th.

Swansea 0-1 QPR

Swansea’s rough patch continued as they found themselves beaten by a resurgent QPR at home – meaning they’ve only won one of their last seven games. QPR, on the other hand, have only lost once in their last six. The match was decided in the 18th minute with a close-range volley from Rumarn Burrell finding the net for the Hoops. A third of the season for the Jamaican, who also scored in his last game. Swansea would have fancied themselves to get back into this one, but their task became much harder when Malick Yalcouye, on loan at Swansea from Brighton, got into a spat with veteran centre-back Steve Cook. The QPR player fell to the ground after Yalcouye nudged his head against Cook’s, and that was all the referee needed to see. Yalcouye was dismissed with only 34 minutes on the clock, and it was a blow the Swans were unable to recover from.

Swansea fall to 16th. QPR move up to 8th.

Watford 2-1 West Brom

Javi Gracia recorded his first victory in his second spell as Watford boss on the second attempt. It means Watford have now won three of their last six, whilst West Brom have conversely loss three of their last six games, putting an early dent in their promotion hopes. Isaac Price scored a fantastic opener for the visitors in the 34th minute, taking his tally for the season to five, but this was cancelled out four minutes later when the Hornets’ Imran Louza netted his third of the campaign. The winning goal arrived in the 58th minute, with Watford’s Irish winger Rocco Vata driving in his second of the season through a crowd of players.

Watford haul themselves to within sight of the playoff places, now in 12th with just three points separating them from sixth place. West Brom drop all the way to 10th position.

Wrexham 1-0 Oxford United

Just three points from twelve meant that Wrexham were beginning to look over their shoulders, but a win here – their first at home this season - eases that pressure a little. Oxford had managed two wins from their last five games, but endured a sixth defeat of the campaign in this match. Much was made of Nathan Broadhead’s rumoured £7.5m transfer fee, but match-winning goals like this will be considered priceless for his team. His second goal of the season proved to be enough for Wrexham, who held on despite defender Callum Doyle being dismissed in the 67th minute - a straight red for a reckless sliding challenge.

Wrexham sit in 15th, whilst Oxford are in 20th.

Sheffield Wednesday 0-1 Middlesbrough

As I write this, Sheffield Wednesday have just been put into administration. It was hard to see the Owls staying up this season to begin with, so a points deduction will almost certainly seal their fate. They suffered a third defeat in a row in this one. A large amount of Wednesday fans boycotted the match, protesting their owner’s continued negligence, giving the game an eerie atmosphere. Morgan Whittaker scored his second in two games after six minutes to give the visitors the lead, and truth be told they should have had many more, but to Rob Edwards’ undoubted frustration his side were extremely wasteful in front of goal. Nonetheless, this remains Boro’s best start to a campaign since 1991, so there is little for the manager or fans to complain about at this moment in time.

Sheffield Wednesday remain bottom, and as of this write up they are now on -6 points after receiving an automatic 12-point deduction for entering administration. A seventh win in eleven games keeps Boro in 2nd place, a point behind leaders Coventry.