Championship Roundup - 05/12/2025 – 06/12/2025

Hull City 1-4 Middlesbrough

Faltering form has seen Hull begin to fall away from the playoff places, and a comprehensive fourth defeat in six games here kept them out of the top six and tilted their goal difference into negative figures. Kim Hellberg made it two wins out of two – the Swede has hit the ground running, and kept Boro very much part of the automatic picture. Heavy rain delayed kick-off by fifteen minutes, but this was due to traffic rather than any issues with the pitch. After all, a club in the second highest tier of the professional game needn’t worry about rainfall causing major problems, right?

This game was realistically gone for Hull by half time, as they were absolutely torn apart in the opening forty-five. Slovakian forward David Strelec scored in the 9th minute to give Boro an early lead, making the most of an opportunity inside the box as the ball fortuitously landed at his feet. A second goal of the season for him. In the 32nd minute the Teesiders doubled their lead through attacking midfielder Alex Gilbert, making his first appearance this season. The Irishman fired low into the corner from outside the box, marking his season debut with a goal. Three minutes later forward Morgan Whittaker struck from just inside the box to put his side further ahead. Whittaker now has four in four games, with six goals overall. The rout was completed in the 44th minute when Australian Riley McGree hit a fourth for the rampant visitors. Receiving the ball on the edge of the six-yard box, the midfielder initially miscontrolled, but a lack of urgency from Hull’s defenders gave him time to sort out his feet and put the ball into the net. Another Boro player to score his first of the campaign. Hull did manage to pull one back in the 62nd minute, but it was scant consolation for the home fans. A poor backpass put Boro keeper Sol Brynn in trouble, and the 25-year-old brought down onrushing lethal striker Joe Gelhardt, who would step up to score the resulting penalty. It puts Gelhardt into double figures for the campaign, but his side’s poor defending across the season has meant his goals have not been as valuable as they could have been otherwise.  

Middlesbrough remain in 2nd place. Hull are 9th, but haven’t lost much ground as of the teams between fifth and ninth, only Preston got anything this weekend, and that was just one point. With that said, this has given various teams in mid-table a chance to claw themselves closer to the top six.

Charlton Athletic v Portsmouth (Abandoned)

This game was stopped in the 12th minute due to a medical emergency in the crowd. The Charlton fan involved sadly passed away. My condolences to that person’s family and friends.

Charlton are 17th. Portsmouth are 22nd.

Derby County 1-3 Leicester City

A third defeat in four games saw John Eustace’s Derby side continue their fall down the table. The Rams had made up a lot of ground after a poor start, but as a consequence of that, bad form means that they sink as quickly as they rose. Marti Cifuentes really needed a win after losing two on the spin, and with his Leicester team hugely underperforming compared to expectation. He’ll be pleased with what he saw here, and can only hope it will help kickstart a winning run – which Leicester desperately need if they are to get themselves back into serious promotion contention.  

The away side were ahead in this one after just eight minutes, with Jamaican winger Bobby De Cordova-Reid slipped in by Jordan James to finish low from inside the area. A second goal of the season for him. Defensive midfielder Oliver Skipp would double the Foxes’ advantage with a close-range volley in the 15th minute, his first of the campaign, giving Derby a huge mountain to climb extremely early on. The ball bounced to Skipp’s feet off a group of players after a corner, and he reacted quickly to score. Derby’s task only got harder when Foxes’ midfielder Jordan James netted a third in the 31st minute – his fifth of the season and second in as many games. A Luke Thomas cross was met by the young Welsh international and put past Derby’s Widell Zetterstorm. The Rams Norwegian centre-back Sondre Langas headed in from a Joe Ward set-piece for his second of the season in the 63rd minute - but that would be the last of the goals in this one.

Derby slip to 15th. Leicester leapfrog their opponents into 14th place.

Watford 3-2 Norwich City

Watford came from behind to deny new Canaries’ boss Philippe Clement a second win in three games. Watford have only lost one of their last six games, but this was also only their second win in that period, meaning they’ve continued to float around mid-table. It’s a twelfth defeat in nineteen games, joint-worst in the league alongside Sheffield Wednesday – little wonder that both clubs are in major trouble, but the Owls have a lot more reason to be struggling. Norwich have simply been massively underperforming.

Fresh off the back of victory midweek, the Canaries were ahead in the 11th minute when American striker Josh Sargent stooped and aimed a close-range diving header into the net. You don’t see too many of those these days! Although this was Sargent’s sixth of the season, the usually prolific striker had been experiencing a goal drought, having not scored in fourteen league matches before this game. Watford’s equaliser in the 33rd minute was certainly unique. A cleared corner was headed back into the box – then headed across goal – then headed towards goal and saved – then headed into the net from the rebound by Danish forward Luca Kjerrumgaard.  Norwich would retake the lead just before the break, with nineteen year-old attacking midfielder Oscar Schwartau – another Dane - tapping in an Emiliano Marcondes cross for his second of the season. Kjerrumgaard would strike again in the 61st minute, once again using his head to guide in a cross from right-back Jeremy Ngakia. He now has seven league goals to his name. The game was won by Hornets’ winger Tom Ince, who scored his first goal in thirteen months to seal all three points for his side, smashing the ball home after left-back Marc Bola pulled the ball back to the middle of the penalty area.

Watford rise to 13th, whilst Norwich remain in 23rd – five points from safety.

Blackburn Rovers v Sheffield Wednesday (Abandoned)

This match was abandoned after around an hour, as for a second time in just over two months Ewood Park was unable to cope with rainfall. Much like last time, Rovers were 1-0 up at the time of the abandonment. Yuki Ohashi’s goal in this one will unfortunately not count, and a replay will be announced in due course.

Rovers are 19th, and Wednesday are bottom.

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Bristol City 0-1 Millwall

Bristol City cannot get themselves into a consistent pattern of form, and this match continued that problem. In the last six games they’ve lost three, won two and drawn one. On the back of this erratic form, they’ve found themselves just outside of the top six. This is a third win in a row for Alex Neil’s men, who are very much back on form and taking advantage of the many teams around them who are faltering.

Just the one goal in this match, and it came just before the hour mark. The Lions’ young Serbian striker Mihailo Ivanovic struck from close range to score his fourth goal of the season. Bristol City thought they’d scored an equaliser in added time, but this was ruled out for offside. The game would end with an unsavoury brawl between both sets of players and staff on the touchline. Not in the spirit of the festive season, really.

Bristol City remain in 7th position. Millwall are in 3rd place, two points off the automatics.

Ipswich Town 3-0 Coventry City

After a dismal display against Rovers midweek, where they were lucky to escape with a point, Ipswich and their fans knew a huge improvement would be needed against league leaders Coventry to avoid getting obliterated. That improvement was delivered, and Ipswich’s second half performance in particular outlined why their fans are so frustrated with the team. The talent is there, but the application is often not. Nonetheless, due to almost the entire league being inconsistent, the Tractor Boys are still very much gunning for automatic promotion. For Coventry, this was just their second defeat of the season, and only the third time they have failed to find the net in the league. The last time Coventry failed to score was September 20th, in a 0-0 draw with Leicester. This is the first time they had lost whilst failing to score, and is a match Frank Lampard and his men will want to quickly put behind them.

The man who scored Town’s late equaliser against Rovers, Norwegian youngster Sindre Egeli, opened the scoring in this one just before half time. It was a goal against the run of play, as Coventry had been the better team in the first half, but that won’t matter much to the home side. Egeli lashed home from the edge of the box after the Sky Blues failed to clear a corner for his second of the campaign. Former Rovers loanee George Hirst would score his sixth goal of the season on the hour mark, slotting home after a fantastic long ball over the Coventry defence from Chilean midfielder Marcelino Nunez sent him clear. It is just a third goal in thirteen appearances for Hirst. Victory was assured for the Tractor Boys in the fifth minute of second half stoppage time, with Spanish striker Ivan Azon curling the ball into the net from inside the penalty area for just his second goal in fourteen league appearances. 

Ipswich return to the top six, now in 4th position and five points from the automatic places. Coventry remain top and still have a nine point gap between themselves and Millwall in 3rd place.

Preston 1-1 Wrexham

The division’s draw specialists Wrexham once again shared the spoils, with this being their fourth draw in six games. The Red Dragons haven’t lost in the league since October 18th, when Stoke beat them 1-0, but the sheer amount of draws has meant they remain in mid-table rather than climbing to challenge further up the league. Preston have had a fair few draws themselves lately, with this being their third in five games.

It took the visitors just four minutes to break the deadlock, with experienced striker Kieffer Moore tapping in after Preston keeper Daniel Iversen guided a cross into the striker’s path. An eighth of the season for Moore. The Red Dragons held on for some time after this, but were eventually undone in the 81st minute when eighteen-year-old North End midfielder Harrison Armstrong netted his first for the club to bring the scores level. The young Everton loanee knocked the ball in from close range after his attempted header across the box bounced right back into his path. It was a deserved goal for Preston, who had thrown everything at Wrexham before finally getting their reward – although they would still have to settle on sharing the points with their opponents.

Wrexham are in 12th position. Preston remain in the playoff positions, sitting in 5th.

QPR 3-1 West Brom

A third win in four games sees the Hoops begin to clamber back up the table, after a difficult November which saw them lose a lot of the ground they had gained. Ryan Mason continues to struggle to stabilise his West Brom side – they are in the exact same overall form as 7th placed Bristol City in the last six games, but an unimpressive string of results over the past couple of months means that the Baggies remain at the lower end of the division, unlike the Robins.

In the fourth minute of added time at the end of the first half, Rangers’ Martinique international Jonathan Varane found himself unmarked inside the box. The central-midfielder duly headed the home side into the lead. His first goal in seventeen league matches. Jamaican forward Rumarn Burrell continued his excellent goalscoring form by doubling Rangers’ tally in the 59th minute. The away side tried haphazardly passing the ball across their own penalty area, and paid the price when a ricocheted pass ended up at the feet of Burrell inside the area. With the kind of form Burrell has been in lately, the rest was academic. WBA striker Auge Heggebo has, himself, been in a goalscoring mood recently, and he halved the deficit in the 76th minute with a looping header that beat QPR’s French keeper Paul Nardi. A sixth goal in five games for the Norwegian, who has seven overall. I mentioned in the last review that Rumarn Burrell hadn’t scored more than a single goal in any one game thus far this season – and it was today’s match where he went a step further. His second of the game, putting the result beyond doubt, came in the 87th minute – knocking the ball into an empty net after it was parried into his path. A ninth goal in what is becoming a very productive season for Burrell. After only scoring one goal in his first nine appearances this season, he has gone on to score eight in his last ten outings.

QPR are now in 10th place, two points from the playoffs. West Brom fall back to 16th.

Sheffield United 4-0 Stoke City

The relegation zone isn’t quite a distant memory for the Blades just yet, but more performances like this and it soon will be. Chris Wilder has seen his side now win four games on the spin, something that was almost unthinkable only a month or so ago. It’s a brutal defeat for Stoke, with the Potters having now lost four of their last five games. Things have gone badly wrong for Mark Robins’ side as of late, and they need to find a way to arrest their slump quickly if they are to avoid dropping out of the top six altogether.

Irish centre-back Mark McGuinness headed in a corner after ten minutes to put the home side into the lead – scoring his first of the season in the process. A second goal for the Blades arrived half an hour later, as right-back Femi Seriki side-footed a curling ball into the top corner from just outside the area. A pretty good way to open your account for the season. Just four minutes after this, Blades’ striker Patrick Bamford would make it three after nodding in a cross from Seriki, who added an assist to his goalscoring contribution. Experienced striker Bamford has now netted twice in four appearances. United went in at half-time in a dominant position, and truth be told Stoke never looked like getting back into this one. It was a devastatingly poor performance from Mark Robins’ men throughout. Their afternoon was summed up when United centre midfielder Andre Brooks was tripped in the area in the 77th minute, and the referee pointed to the spot. Brooks’ partner in the middle, Sydie Peck, stepped up to drill the ball down the middle and cap off a memorable afternoon for the Blades. Technically you could call it a memorable afternoon for Stoke, too, but for the wrong reasons. Mark Robins said after the match he appreciated the away support applauding their team at the end, but that he and the team deserved “a slap” rather than praise.

Sheffield United are now 18th. Stoke are still clinging onto their playoff place in 6th, but only by virtue of the three teams below them all losing as well.

Southampton 3-1 Birmingham City

Little surprise that, after four wins in five matches, the Saints named caretaker boss Tonda Eckert as their full time manager. They lost for the first time under him in midweek, but bounced back immediately here to extend the German’s impressive winning record since taking over from Will Still. Birmingham had been on a decent run of form, having only lost once in their last five games, but they found themselves unable to halt a resurgent Southampton team who are, amazingly, already within reach of the top six.

With six minutes on the clock, the Saints took the lead through attacking midfielder Finn Azaz. The Irishman fired in low from the edge of the area for his seventh goal of the season – six of which have come in the last five games under his new manager. Former Rover Adam Armstrong would double the home side’s advantage in the 24th minute, picking up the ball outside the visitor’s box, moving past the defender and drilling a low shot – still outside of the area – into the corner of the net. Birmingham would get one back nine minutes after the restart, as winger Demarai Gray cut in on his right foot outside of the area and curled a fantastic shot past Southampton goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu. The Jamaican now has five league goals. This brief flicker of hope for Big Club was extinguished just four minutes later, however, as Armstrong pounced on a parried shot to poach his ninth goal of the season and ensure Southampton left this one with all three points.

Southampton rise to 11th, just three points from the playoffs. Birmingham remain in 8th place.

Swansea City 2-0 Oxford United

Vitor Manos earned his first win as Swansea manager on the third attempt, with his side gaining a crucial victory over relegation rivals Oxford at the Swansea.com stadium. It was a first win in seven games for the Swans, ending a wretched run of form which had seen them lose five in a row. Gary Rowett’s men were unbeaten in three heading into this one, and will be disappointed to have come away with no points here, keeping them in a precarious position just outside of the drop zone.

Both goals in this one came at the end of the first half. With forty minutes played, Swansea’s New Zealand international midfielder Marko Stamenic met left-back Josh Tymon’s deep free-kick with his head at the far post to put the Swans into the lead. A first goal in thirteen league appearances for the man from Wellington, NZ. Tymon would then double the hosts’ lead with a spectacular goal of his own – his first of the season - just before the half-time whistle. A free-kick into the box was headed out to the edge of the area by the Swansea defence, but Tymon met the ball with a sweetly struck volley which flew into the top corner. Fair to say this was a goal worth of winning any game, and some volleying technique from a left-back.

Swansea clamber above Oxford into 20th position. The U’s switch places with their opponents, now in 21st. 

 League Table c/o BBC Sport