Results:
Friday
Barnsley 2 Bristol City 2
Saturday
Wigan Athletic 1 Swansea City 2
Blackburn Rovers 2 Sheffield Wednesday 1
Brentford 0 Huddersfield Town 1
Cardiff City 4 Birmingham City 2
Derby County 2 Middlesbrough 0
Fulham 0 Hull City 3
Leeds United 2 Queens Park Rangers 0
Luton Town 1 Nottingham Forest 2
Reading 2 Millwall 1
Sunday
Charlton Athletic 0 Preston North End 1
Monday
Stoke City 0 West Bromwich Albion 2
Round-up: The Championship's weekend action began with a Friday night clash, as Barnsley hosted top six side Bristol City, in a match which saw extremely late drama. Bristol went in front two minutes before half-time thanks to a goal from experienced defender Ashley Williams, who headed in from a Niclas Eliasson free-kick. That lead was then doubled with 17 minutes remaining as Andreas Weimann headed in from a corner, before Barnsley halved the deficit only four minutes later thanks to a header from Aapo Halme. It seemed as though Bristol would hold on for the win, however, Cauley Woodrow scored with what was effectively the last kick of the game to salvage a point for Barnsley, who remain without a win since the opening day of the season. Meanwhile, the action on Saturday began in the North West, as Wigan Athletic hosted Swansea City in a match which saw late drama. Swansea City took the lead after only 12 minutes, thanks to a goal from the experienced winger Nathan Dyer. However, that lead only lasted 9 minutes, as Kieffer Moore equalised from the penalty spot after Mike van der Hoorn was penalised for pulling Chey Dunkley's shirt in the penalty area. It seemed as though the two sides would have to settle for a point, but a 90th minute goal from Sam Surridge gave Swansea back-to-back league victories for the first time since August. The afternoon's action saw Huddersfield Town record back-to-back victories and extend their unbeaten run to 7 consecutive league matches, as a 1-0 victory ended Brentford's own run of three consecutive league wins thanks to a 62nd minute goal from in-form striker Karlan Grant. Middlesbrough, meanwhile remained in the relegation zone as they suffered a 2-0 defeat away at Derby County, who recorded their fourth successive home win thanks to a brace from Tom Lawrence which extended the away side's winless league run to 8 consecutive matches. In addition to losing, Middlesbrough were reduced to 10 men as George Saville was shown a straight red card and will thus miss the next 3 matches. Blackburn Rovers, on the other hand, ended their own run of six successive league games without a victory, as they came from behind to win 2-1 at home to Sheffield Wednesday in a match where all the goals came in the last 7 minutes. Jacob Murphy's 83rd minute goal put the away side in front, before Tosin Adarabioyo cancelled that out with an 88th minute equaliser for the hosts. John Buckley then went on to score a 90th minute winner for Blackburn which gave them their first league win since the 21st of September. Blackburn's victory enabled them to leapfrog Luton Town, who suffered a 2-1 defeat at home to Nottingham Forest. A 39th minute goal from experienced striker Lewis Grabban gave Forest the lead, before that was doubled in the 58th minute by Sammy Ameobi. Callum McManaman did half the deficit for Luton in the 87th minute, but his goal proved to be a scant consolation as Nottingham Forest held on for the win. Reading continued their upturn in form since appointing Mark Bowen as manager following the sacking of José Gomes, as they recorded a 2-1 win at home to Millwall thanks to first half goals from Jordan Obita and Sam Baldock, whilst Jed Wallace bagged what proved to be a mere consolation for the away side. Meanwhile, Hull City won their fourth league game on the bounce, as they recorded an impressive 3-0 win away at Fulham thanks to goals from Josh Bowler, Jarrod Bowen and Tom Eaves. Fellow Yorkshire side Leeds United kept pace with the frontrunners, as they won 2-0 at home to Queens Park Rangers thanks to goals from Tyler Roberts and Jack Harrison. Cardiff City continued their unbeaten league run at home thanks to a 4-2 victory over Birmingham City, in a match which saw both sides reduced to 10 men. After only 3 minutes, it was the away side who took the lead thanks to a Kristian Pedersen goal, before that was cancelled out on the half-hour mark thanks to a Joe Ralls penalty. Cardiff then went on to take the lead thanks to a 38th mintue goal from Curtis Nelson, before they were then reduced to 10 men in the 52nd minute as Danny Ward was shown a straight red card. Despite being down to 10 men, it was in fact Cardiff who scored the next goal as Joe Ralls grabbed his second goal of the game in the 69th minute to make the scoreline 3-1. Ivan Sunjic then restored some hope for Birmingham late on thanks to an 89th minute goal which halved the deficit, before all their hopes were dashed as they were reduced to 10 men; Harlee Dean was shown a straight red card in the 90th minute, and Cardiff went on to wrap up the win as Joe Ralls completed his hat-trick thanks to his second goal of the game from the penalty spot.
The one match which took place on Sunday saw Preston North End, whose manager Alex Neil was reportedly approached by Stoke City to replace Nathan Jones who was sacked last Friday, travel to Charlton Athletic. In the end, Preston brushed off all the speculation relating to their manager and prevailed in a 1-0 triumph thanks to a 58th minute penalty from the experienced Paul Gallagher.
Finally, the weekend's action came to a conclusion with a Monday night fixture, as managerless and bottom of the table Stoke City hosted high-flying West Bromwich Albion. Therefore, it was perhaps to be expected that the away side would prevail in a contest settled by an 8th minute goal from Matt Phillips and a 68th minute penalty from Hal Robson-Kanu, in a result which helped keep West Brom top of the table.
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