Leicester City 2-0 Birmingham City

Leicester and Birmingham kicked off the last round of matches for August, with the Friday night game taking place at the King Power Stadium. Leicester’s start has in many ways mirrored the last time they were in the Championship – not looking particularly great, but generally picking up wins via the small marginal gains that come from having top quality players at a team’s disposal. 

Birmingham came into the Championship with a lot of hype on the back of a record-breaking season in League 1, and were undefeated in the league heading into this match. A more clinical performance in front of goal would likely have given them three points from their opening match against Ipswich, but wins against Rovers and Oxford helped ease the pain of seeing an opening day victory slip through their fingers.

It was a game where Birmingham more than held their own, with eleven shots registered to Leicester’s five, but as has often been the case so far, Leicester’s quality gave them the edge. They only had two shots on target, but both went in. It only took eight minutes for the Foxes to take the lead via a powerful shot from inside the box from Abdul Fatawu – scoring for the second week in a row – and the game was put to bed when Ricardo Pereira netted after a perfect cross from sixteen-year old Jeremy Monga. Pereira was perhaps lucky to still be on the pitch, with an earlier tackle likely to have been deemed reckless if VAR was being utilised in the Championship.

Victory sees Marti Cifuentes’ Leicester team move into 4th, with three wins from their opening four matches. Birmingham fall to 10th position. Goals have been hard to come by for Big Club so far, with only four goals from four games.

Middlesbrough 1-0 Sheffield United

These two teams, both with new managers at the helm, have started the season as total opposites. Boro have maintained a 100% winning record, whilst Sheffield United have suffered a 100% losing record. Perhaps most pleasing for Boro manager Rob Edwards would have been the fact his team had only conceded one goal in their first three league matches, whilst putting six goals past their opponents. After an opening day debacle against Bristol City, ending in a 4-1 home defeat, Sheffield United had only conceded one goal in each of their next two matches. They didn’t score any in response, though, so zero points remained the outcome, piling early season pressure on Ruben Selles.

The form book was, in this instance, a reliable indicator of what was to come. Boro debutant Matt Targett, signed on loan from Newcastle two days prior, provided a terrific pass to set up Tommy Conway to score his second goal of the season in the 64th minute. The hosts should have netted at least another two or three, but in the end a single goal was enough. Sheffield United had a couple of half-chances, but rarely threatened in a way one would expect from a team that just last season finished 3rd with 90 points.

For Boro, it is their best start to a season in 31 years – stretching back to 1994 – a season which ended with Boro being promoted to the Premier League as Division One champions. In stark contrast, it is Sheffield United’s worst start to a season outside the top flight since 1995. They have only scored a single goal from their first four league matches, and have not registered a shot on target in either of their first two away games. They are, as you might expect, the lowest scorers in the division, with even crisis-hit inter-city rivals Sheffield Wednesday having a tally of three goals scored.

Middlesbrough now sit in 1st place, the only team in the division with a perfect record after four matches. Sheffield United remain at the bottom of the pile, needing to massively improve after the international break to avoid increasing unrest over Ruben Selles’ management of the team.

QPR 3-1 Charlton Athletic

In the aftermath of QPR’s humiliating 7-1 loss to Coventry last week, boss Julien Stephan promised fans that they would see a response this week. The Hoops had endured a winless start to the season, only gaining one point from their opening four games. Charlton had fared much better, with their only defeat coming against newly-related Leicester by a slim margin.

As it turned out, Stephan’s words from last week’s post-match post-mortem were absolutely correct. His side bounced back with a much improved performance – any lingering nerves being calmed with an 8th minute opener from Paul Smyth. Charlton got themselves back into the game early in the second half, with Rob Apter volleying the ball into the ground from a cross and then watching it bounce in for the equaliser. The game appeared to be heading towards a draw, but Japanese midfielder Koki Saito had other ideas. Saito had signed on a permanent transfer for QPR from Belgian side Lommel on Monday – having been on loan at the club the previous season – and it was Rangers’ new permanent signing that set them on their way to a win. He drove through the Addicks’ defence from the middle of the park in the 84th minute and fired the ball into the bottom corner to put QPR back ahead. Richard Kone then sealed the victory with a third goal in the 97th minute, ensuring there would be no late heartbreak at Loftus Road.

A first win of the season moves QPR up to 18th position. Charlton’s second defeat of the season, and their second on the spin, leaves them in 16th.

Stoke City 0-1 West Brom

Stoke have endured endless mediocrity since being relegated from the PL in 2017/18, but their fans will have been encouraged by a start to the season which has seen them win all three of their opening games. Mark Robins, having done such great work at Coventry, looks to be finally turning a corner for the Potters. West Brom took a gamble in appointing rookie Ryan Mason at the beginning of the campaign, but they will have been pleased with a return of seven points from their opening three games. Ryan Mason had to watch today’s game from the stands, having been sent off during last week’s 1-1 draw with Portsmouth.  

A tight affair at the bet365 stadium was settled by a 14th minute goal from West Brom’s Nat Phillips. Viktor Johansson had shone the previous week for Stoke, with his precise long-throw directly leading to the winning goal against Southampton. This week, however, he fumbled a catch from a corner after colliding with defender Bosun Lawal, and Phillips was on hand to take advantage for the Baggies. It came after poor positioning from Johansson had almost allowed him to be lobbed a short while beforehand. It continued WBA’s record of scoring first in every game so far this season. In the end, this goal was all they needed, and Stoke have now failed to win any of their last seven meetings with West Brom. Officially a bogey team.

The loss of their 100% winning record drops Stoke to 3rd, ceding top spot to Middlesbrough and also falling behind WBA themselves, who move up to 2nd place in the table.  

Blackburn Rovers 0-2 Norwich City

Rovers picked up their first three points of the season – and their first points overall – last week with a comfortable 3-0 victory over Hull. Fans were given some hope that the revolving door of players leaving and entering the club would not be too destabilising in the short-term, having watched their team lose their opening two games of the campaign and then get dumped out of the league cup at Ewood Park by League One’s Bradford City. Norwich had lost their first two home games of the season by narrow margins, but won away at Portsmouth in between those two defeats.

Once again, the Canaries found themselves able to bring home all three points on the road. Rovers endured a torrid first half display, with the team struggling to find any kind of rhythm. The miserable nature of the first forty-five minutes was summed up just before the break as new signing Sean McLoughlin pulled back Josh Sargent in the box and was dismissed from the field of play for being the last man. Sargent duly converted from the spot. Despite being down to ten men, Rovers were a different proposition in the second half, and took the game to Norwich. Only a string of fine saves from Norwich keeper Vladan Kovacevic kept the Canaries’ noses in front. Against the run of play, it was Sargent who once again netted with a blistering finish in the 91st minute to end the contest - his fifth goal in four matches underlining why the US international is such a crucial part of Norwich’s squad.

Rovers’ third defeat in four league games sees them go into the international break in 19th position. Liam Manning’s Norwich side, off the back of two wins and two defeats, take their two week break sitting in 11th.

Bristol City 4-2 Hull City

Former Barnsley boss Gerhard Struber has had a mixed set of results in his return to the Championship in charge of Bristol City. A stunning opening day demolition of Sheffield United was followed by draws at home to Charlton and then away to Derby. Nonetheless, the Robins went into today’s match undefeated thus far and with every reason to believe that would continue. Hull’s new manager Sergej Jakirovic’s introduction to English football has been similarly mixed, with a draw and a victory followed by a heavy defeat by Rovers last week, a 3-0 home drubbing which had partial roots in a virus within Hull’s ranks in the week prior to the match.

Any lingering effects of illness appeared to be banished early on, as Joe Gelhardt scored his second goal of the season in the 3rd minute to give the Tigers a dream start. That was as good as it got for Hull, though. Bristol City came roaring back and two goals from Emil Riis, sandwiched between a close-range effort from Anis Mehmeti after he pounced on a mistake from the Hull defence, put the Robins 3-1 ahead going into the break. That lead was further extended in the 78th minute as Max Bird increased the scoreline to 4-1. A late consolation goal from Kyle Joseph in the 93rd minute did little to lift the spirits of the travelling Hull fans. The final score reflected a game which saw the hosts have twenty-nine shots and the visitors twenty of their own, the pouring rain not dampening the attacking spirit of either team. The Robins have now scored four times in two of their opening four matches.

Three points pushes unbeaten Bristol City into 6th place, the same position they finished last season in. A second defeat in a row, with seven goals conceded across both games, drops Hull to 17th.

Ipswich Town 2-2 Derby County

A disappointing start to their return to Championship football saw Ipswich make headlines with big signings over the past week. Midfielder Marcelino Nunez was signed from bitter rivals Norwich for £10m – the first player to make the jump between the two clubs since 2001. Another central midfielder, Azor Matusiwa, joined from Stade Rennais for a fee of around £13m. Kasey McAteer put pen to paper on a four year deal, the attacker signing from Leicester for a rumoured £13m. Finally, 19-year-old Norweigen winger Sindre Walle Egeli was purchased for around £17.5m – breaking the Championship record for a permanent transfer, previously held by Burnley when they signed Mike Tresor for £15.4m last season. The £50m+ outlay is a clear statement of intent from Ipswich that they plan to go straight back up this season. Derby, much like Ipswich, were yet to pick up a victory – but John Eustace certainly doesn’t have £50m to throw at solving that problem.

This match highlighted why Ipswich felt the need to splash the cash – new signings Matusiwa and McAteer started, whilst Nunez and Egeli were unable to be registered in time. A misjudgement from Derby keeper Zetterstrom in the 33rd minute allowed Jacob Greaves to head in from a corner, giving Ipswich the lead going into the break. This was wiped out by the 70th minute, as a penalty from Calrton Morris in the 50th minute and a strike from Rhian Brewster twenty minutes later put Derby in front. Much like in their first match of the season against Birmingham, Ipswich benefitted from a late penalty in the 106th minute (yes, 106th), as Szmodics was brought down in the box and Jack Clarke converted from the spot to deny the Rams a first win of the season. Ipswich may see this as karma rather than luck, as George Hirst seemed to be unfairly booked for a dive in the area during the second half which appeared to be a legitimate penalty. Lewis Travis was also lucky to escape a red card, as replays seemed to show him booting an Ipswich player in the face. Nonetheless, both teams go into the international break without a victory.

Ipswich’s winless start leaves them in 20th, one of five teams at the bottom without a win. Derby are also in this bracket, sitting just below the Tractor Boys in 21st. One imagines Ipswich manager Kieran McKenna will be under significant pressure to start getting results fast, considering the incredible outlay Ipswich’s American owners have sanctioned on new arrivals.

Millwall 0-2 Wrexham

Alex Neil has seen his side win two and lose one of their opening three matches, having only lost to early pace-setters Middlesbrough. Both victories did come away from the Den, although they did pick up a cup win against Coventry at home. Wrexham came into this match still looking for their first win in the second tier. They threw away their first game against Southampton by conceding two late goals, and then last week allowed Sheffield Wednesday to claw back a two goal deficit to end the game with a share of the spoils.

Once again Wrexham found themselves two goals to the good, but this time they made sure to hold on for a precious first Championship victory. Kieffer Moore opened the scoring in the 58th minute, bravely challenging the Millwall goalkeeper as the ball looped into the area, and coming out on top, heading the ball into the net. He got cracked in the nose for his troubles, but that’s the kind of courage you want from a striker, and why Wrexham parted with just over £2m to bring the experienced 33-year-old to Wales. This was his third goal of the campaign. Millwall had twenty-one shots on goal, but only managed two on target. Their wastefulness ultimately cost them, as in the 108th minute (yes, 108th) former Rovers target Lewis O’Brien scored to put the result beyond doubt. Millwall suffer two defeats from two at the Den, whilst Wrexham finally taste all three points in a Championship game.

Millwall drop to 12th in the table, whilst Wrexham move up to 15th.

Oxford United 2-2 Coventry

Gary Rowett’s teams are typically known to be quite resolute defensively, but thus far Oxford have conceded in every match they’ve played, and were thrashed 6-0 by Brighton in the League Cup. With that said, their problems have generally been more at the other end of the pitch, as although they’ve been beaten in all three matches so far this season, two of these were by slim 1-0 margins. Coventry meanwhile have made some start to the season. A disappointing opening day draw with Hull was followed by a 5-3 away victory over Derby and then a 7-1 home mauling of QPR. Coventry have mainly focused on keeping last season’s squad together for this campaign, with every one of their outfield players present from last season.

With the above in mind, it wouldn’t have been surprising to see Coventry ahead after just 12 minutes, with US forward Hadji Wright netting for the fifth time across the league and cup competitions. Oxford responded quickly, equalising with a goal from on-loan Tottenham striker Will Lankshear restoring parity. A stunning free kick from Victor Torp in the 37th minute – his fourth goal of the campaign – ensured Coventry went into the break with the advantage. Oxford replied with a free kick of their own – quick thinking from set-piece specialist Cameron Brannagan caught Coventry keeper Carl Rushworth off-guard to once again level proceedings. It had been Brannagan’s parried free kick in the first half which had given Lankshear the rebound to score from, making his contributions to this match invaluable for Oxford. Coventry came close to taking all three points late on, but Hadji Wright saw an effort from inside the penalty crash off the bar, and the game would end with both sides sharing the points.

Oxford remain without a win but will take heart from this result, despite currently sitting in 22nd. Frank Lampard will be frustrated to have seen his team give up the lead twice, but his side are still unbeaten and sit in 5th position. 

Portsmouth 1-0 Preston

John Mousinho’s Portsmouth side have begun the season with a mixed bag of results, winning, losing and drawing – in that order. All games where the results were decided by fine margins. Preston have unexpectedly started the season by picking up seven points from the first twelve available, including impressive wins at Deepdale against parachute-payment clubs Leicester and Ipswich.

Portsmouth haven’t scored more than a single goal in any league game so far this season, and this was again the case in this contest – with that one goal enough to secure victory, inflicting a first defeat of the season upon PNE. Midfielder Andre Dozzell broke the deadlock with a short-range shot that took a deflection on the way in. Pompey had chances to extend their lead in the second half, including a gilt-edged chance for Josh Murphy, but PNE keeper Iversen did well to repeatedly deny the hosts. Murphy has been linked with a move away from Portsmouth– but John Mousinho insisted afterwards that Pompey’s board had told him Murphy was not for sale. In the end, three points for Pompey for the first time since the opening day, whilst Preston lose their first game and also fail to score for the first time this season.

Portsmouth move up to 8th, PNE drop to 9th.

Sheffield Wednesday 0-2 Swansea City

Against the backdrop of sustained protests against Sheffield Wednesday owner Dejphon Chansiri, the Owls’ depleted squad have performed admirably thus far – although as of yet they have not been able to pick up a league win. A narrow defeat by Leicester on the opening day was followed by a demoralising 3-0 defeat at home to Stoke. Last week’s 2-2 away draw to Wrexham was followed by a penalty shootout victory in the league cup against Premier League club Leeds. The players were also informed they would actually be paid on time this month – something far from guaranteed at Hillsborough.  Alan Sheehan’s Swansea were beaten by Boro in their first game, but since then picked up a 1-0 win against Sheffield United and a 1-1 draw against Watford, both at home. The Swans were yet to register more than a single goal in any league match.

The first half ended goalless, but star of the show Zan Vipotnik made his first league start of the season count. He scored the opener in the 50th minute for his third goal of the season, and then provided an assist for Brazilian Ronald to net a second in the 81st minute. Vipotnik has been heavily linked with a move away from Swansea for most of the transfer window, but the speculation doesn’t seem to be interfering with the Slovenian’s ability to be a force on the pitch. The effort was once again there from Sheffield Wednesday’s players, but Owls’ boss Henrik Pedersen made it clear post-match that his side will need reinforcements before Monday’s deadline to have any realistic hope of surviving.

Defeat leaves Wednesday in 23rd, and Swansea move up to 7th.

Watford 2-2 Southampton

Italian Paulo Pezzolano has seen his side lose, win and draw their opening league matches, in that order.  The Hornets have struggled with consistency over the past few seasons, and will be looking to try and rectify that during this campaign. Southampton have also tasted all three types of end result in their first three matches, and 32-year-old manager Will Still will be aware that the expectation from Southampton’s board and supporters is an immediate return to the top-flight. Mixed results won’t get the job done.

It took the Saints just ten minutes to put themselves in front, with Cameron Archer firing in after a mistimed header from Nathan Wood fell fortuitously into his path. Poor marking from Watford meant that the 23-year-old forward had plenty of space to finish. The scoreline remained this way until the 65th minute, when Watford’s Kwadho Baah drilled a shot into the corner of the net from inside the box, benefitting from a pinpoint crossfield pass from team-mate Rocco Vata. A precise free kick from Ryan Manning in the 78th minute edged Southampton back into the lead, but the Hornets’ Nestory Irankunda fired back just three minutes later with a beautiful free kick of his own which sailed into the top corner. The Tanzanian winger’s second goal of the season was enough to give Watford a point, as Southampton go into the international break with just one win from their first four games.

Watford finished the day in 14th, with Southampton one place above them in 13th.