Saturday's Championship reports

  • Published

Nottingham Forest 0-0 Bournemouth

Bournemouth failed to muster an effort on target until injury time in an uninspiring draw against Nottingham Forest at the City Ground.

A resurgent Forest, who have now lost just once in 11 games, edged a dull contest, but also struggled to create chances against a cautious Cherries side who extended their unbeaten run to three under caretaker boss Jonathan Woodgate.

Veteran Reds striker Glenn Murray, who scored twice on his full debut in last week's 3-0 win over Wycombe, came closest when his header was cleared off the line after the break.

The best opportunities for the Cherries both fell to Junior Stanislas, a curling strike that went just wide before the break and a shot that was deflected wide in stoppage time.

Birmingham 0-1 Luton

Luton Town gave their hopes of a late Championship play-off push a big boost as they added to relegation-haunted Birmingham City's woes.

Hatters left-back Dan Potts headed the only goal of the game on 31 minutes from Harry Cornick's long throw to earn his side their fifth away win of the season.

It was only a seventh away league goal this season for Luton, who have not scored more than once in any game on their travels.

But it was enough to spell a ninth home defeat for Aitor Karanka's Blues in a sorry run of 11 winless games, stretching back to 28 October.

Cardiff 3-1 Coventry

Cardiff continued their recent revival under new boss Mick McCarthy as Wales striker Kieffer Moore inspired his side to a 3-1 win over Coventry.

Moore finished superbly to give Cardiff the lead before tapping home a second after a huge defensive mix-up to put Cardiff 2-0 up at the interval.

Josh Murphy added a third moments into the second half as the Sky Blues were caught by a quick freekick routine.

Dominic Hyam scored a consolation goal for the visitors on 78 minutes.

The win sees Cardiff rise to seventh in the Championship, while Coventry slip to 20th.

Derby 2-1 Middlesbrough

Colin Kazim-Richards scored a sensational goal as Derby County moved three points clear of the Championship relegation zone with victory over Middlesbrough who lost for the fourth time in a five-game winless run.

Kazim-Richards thumped the ball home from 25 yards for a 2-0 lead after being found by Lee Gregory, who had headed in the first Rams goal following a slick corner routine.

Boro, who drop to eighth in the table and are now six points off the play-off places, cut the deficit before the break when on-loan Fulham midfielder Neeskens Kebano struck.

But that remained one of only two shots on target for a lacklustre Boro, who are on their longest winless run since Neil Warnock took charge in June 2020.

Huddersfield 2-3 Wycombe

Josh Knight's winner three minutes from time earned Wycombe just a fourth Championship win of the season as they rallied superbly from 2-0 down to beat Huddersfield.

Knight completed the comeback in a second half that Wycombe dominated with a smart touch and left-foot finish.

The opening period was depressingly familiar for Gareth Ainsworth's side as Juninho Bacuna's third goal of the season and Isaac Mbenza gave Huddersfield a two-goal lead.

But Anis Mehmeti's low shot in first-half stoppage time pulled a goal back for the visitors and when Uche Ikpeazu was fouled in the box after half-time, Joe Jacobson scored from the penalty spot to level the game.

Norwich 4-1 Stoke

Teemu Pukki scored twice as Norwich City replaced Brentford at the top of the Championship with a 4-1 win over Stoke City, their first win in four league games.

The Canaries dominated the first half, in which their blanket possession was rewarded with goals from Todd Cantwell and Pukki - the first a low drive past Angus Gunn after a skip in off the right and the second a close-range tap-in for the Finn after Emi Buendia robbed Morgan Fox outside the Stoke box.

Stoke, who had a goal by Steven Fletcher ruled out in the first half for offside, did get themselves on the board when Dimitris Giannoulis played straight to Nick Powell, and his low shot beat Tim Krul.

Giannoulis made up for his error with a run and cross that Buendia struck past former Canary Gunn, and after the Argentine scorer was then fouled in the box, Pukki got his second from the penalty spot to wrap up the points.

Stoke's disappointment was compounded late on when defender Nathan Collins had to be withdrawn on a stretcher with a leg injury.

Brentford can climb above Norwich if they avoid defeat by Barnsley in Sunday's lunchtime kick-off.

Reading 1-2 Millwall

Reading fell further behind their Championship promotion rivals as Millwall's late fightback condemned them to back-to-back home defeats.

The Royals went ahead in bizarre fashion when Alfa Semedo challenged for Lions keeper Bartosz Bialkowski's throw and the ball cannoned into an unguarded net from 50 yards.

Millwall had struggled to create clear chances before Tom Bradshaw's scuffed effort fell to Matt Smith, who slotted past Rafael Cabral.

Ovie Ejaria's deflected shot hit the bar for Reading, but Mason Bennett looped Scott Malone's cross over Cabral to stun the hosts.

Watford 6-0 Bristol City

A stunning first-half performance helped promotion-chasing Watford blow away out-of-form Bristol City at Vicarage Road in the Championship.

A Taylor Moore own goal and Ismaila Sarr tap-in gave the hosts the perfect start in the opening quarter.

And Will Hughes' deflected effort from range and Ken Sema's side-footed finish rounded off the perfect half for Xisco Munoz's side.

The Hornets continued to dominate after the break and Sarr deservedly added a fifth, before Philip Zinckernagel tapped in the sixth late on to heap further pressure on City boss Dean Holden.