Second place Cardiff City were held to a 1-1 draw by last placed Preston North End in an exciting weekend of Championship action.
The draw with Preston meant Cardiff were unable to take full advantage of the inactivity of Queens Park Rangers, who were among 10 teams inactive due to the frozen conditions freezing out five fixtures.
Swansea City moved within one point of Cardiff courtesy of a 3-1 win at Ipswich Town. Norwich City moved into fourth place with a 2-1 win at Pride Park that ended a six game home winning streak for Derby County. Leeds United climbed into the playoff spots with a 2-1 win over struggling Crystal Palace who remain in the bottom three.
At the bottom of the table, Middlesbrough remain in the relegation zone as they were beaten 1-0 at Coventry City, while Scunthorpe United are above the relegation zone on goal difference alone after a 3-0 defeat at Millwall.
Third place Swansea City won 3-1 at Ipswich Town to move within one point of the automatic promotion spots. Ipswich took a 50th minute lead through Andros Townsend, before Craig Beattie equalized and Joe Allen put the Swans in front. Beattie rounded off the win with his second goal in the 86th minute.
Swansea put Ipswich under pressure from the opening whistle and Brian Murphy was forced into good saves from Beattie and Scott Sinclair to keep the game scoreless.
Ipswich settled into the game and in the 32nd minute former Swan Jason Scotland hit a shot from distance that Dorus de Vries did well to turn around the post. Tamas Priskin then fired wide after beating several defenders, and Troy Brown had a header well saved by de Vries just before half-time.
Ipswich continued their good play after the break, and five minutes into the second half Tottenham Hotspur loanee Townsend opened the scoring. Carlos Edwards sent over an inviting cross that Townsend headed home at the back post.
Priskin had a golden opportunity to double the lead soon after but he directed his header straight at de Vries. Priskin would pay for his error as Swansea equalized against the run of play in the 64th minute.
Swansea were awarded a free kick near the by-line, and Mark Gower sent over an excellent cross that Beattie headed past Murphy to tie the scores. Six minutes later Swansea took the lead after a bad clearance from Tommy Smith fell to Allen, who poked the ball home for a 2-1 lead.
With five minutes remaining Ipswich believed they should have had a penalty when Edwards went down under an apparent foul from Gower. Swansea rubbed salt in the wound by going straight up the other end and wrapping up the 3-1 win courtesy of an excellent long range strike from Beattie.
A late Danny Graham winner gave Watford victory over Leicester City after they had thrown away a two goal lead. First half strikes from John Eustace and Will Buckley gave the Hornet’s a 2-0 lead, but two Paul Gallagher goals drew the Foxes level. Graham then snatched the win for Watford with a header five minutes from time.
Watford started well and defender Martin Taylor had an early chance to open the scoring when he volleyed wide from a Jordon Mutch corner. It was another Mutch set piece that created the opening goal, as a free kick from out wide was headed home by Eustace.
Watford doubled their lead in the 22nd minute courtesy of an error by Leicester goalkeeper Chris Weale. Don Cowie played a long, hopeful ball forward and Weale misjudged the flight of the ball, allowing Buckley the simple task of rolling the ball into an empty net.
Leicester responded well in the second half and halved the deficit from the penalty spot five minutes after the restart. Kyle Naughton’s cross was handled by Andrew Taylor and referee Kevin Wright pointed to the spot. Gallagher smashed the resulting penalty high into the net.
An excellent save from Scott Loach prevented Gallagher from equalizing, before the Scottish forward was fouled by Lloyd Doyley on the edge of the area. Gallagher got up to curl an excellent free kick over the wall and into the net to tie the scores.
Watford snatched victory with only five minutes remaining when a Mutch cross was flicked into the corner of the net by Graham to spark celebrations among the home fans.
Two late goals from Luciano Becchio gave Leeds United a comeback win over struggling Crystal Palace that sees Leeds climb into the playoff spots. Neil Danns gave Palace the lead but Becchio struck in the 81st and 83rd minute to give Leeds the win.
Leeds started brightly and had an early goal from Johnny Howson disallowed for offside. United also had a good 38th minute chance that Max Gradel fired wide.
Palace took the lead one minute before half-time with a sweeping counter-attack move. Nathaniel Clyne went to the by-line and cut the ball back behind James Vaughan for Danns to side foot home. Palace almost immediately doubled their lead but Kasper Schmeichel saved well from Darren Ambrose.
Palace did not sit on their lead and only good saves from Scheichel denied Danns and Ambrose in the second half. As the game progressed Leeds poured forward looking for an equalizer but were met with stiff resistance from Speroni.
First Becchio had a close range header blocked, and then Lloyd Sam was twice kept out by good saves from the Argentine goalkeeper.
The persistence of Leeds paid off in the final 10 minutes as Becchio produced his match winning brace. First he stabbed home a Neil Kilkenny corner, and then the South African international won the game as he fired past Speroni from the edge of the area.
An injury time equalizer by Andy Keogh helped second place Cardiff City win a point against bottom of the table Preston North End. Keogh’s strike denied Preston a surprise victory after a Michael Tonge free kick had opened the scoring in the first half.
Things did not start well for Cardiff when league leading goal scorer Jay Bothroyd limped out of the game with a hamstring problem after only eight minutes. Keogh replaced Bothroyd and was quickly in the thick of the action, as he laid the ball off to Craig Bellamy who fired just wide.
Preston took a shock lead in the 26th minute when Darel Russell was fouled by Mark Hudson on the edge of the penalty area. Tonge made Cardiff pay for their error when he drilled a low free kick past David Marshall to send the visiting fans into raptures.
Shortly after falling behind Cardiff manager Dave Jones had to make his second injury substitute in the first half as center back Darcy Blake limped off to be replaced by Gabor Gyepes.
Cardiff took control of possession in the second half, but failed to break down a stubborn Preston rearguard. Andy Lonergan saved well from Kevin McNaughton, and a Gyepes header in the 90th minute was cleared off the goal line by Billy Jones.
In the fourth minute of injury time Keogh came to the rescue and snatched a point for Cardiff with a dramatic equalizer. Peter Whittingham sent in a cross that Seyi Olofinjana headed down, Keogh then turned the ball home with a diving header.
Playoff contending Coventry City won 1-0 against struggling Middlesbrough in a game that was defined by two penalties. Leroy Lita missed a first half spot kick for the visitors, while Marlon King netted the winning goal from the penalty spot in the 78th minute.
Middlesbrough started well and Julio Arca produced a good save from Keiren Westwood with a strike from distance. Tony McMahon then went close with a header after getting on the end of a Gary O’Neil cross.
At the other end, a Clive Platt header forced a good save from Jason Steele, and the Middlesbrough goalkeeper then denied a long range effort from Gary McSheffrey.
Middlesbrough were awarded a golden opportunity to take the lead in the 31st minute when Lita was fouled by Nathan Cameron and a penalty kick was awarded. Westwood guessed right and saved the resulting penalty to keep the scores level.
The game continued in end to end fashion but Coventry scored the decisive goal from the penalty spot with only 12 minutes remaining. The impressive Gary McSheffrey was brought down by Matthew Bates, and King converted the penalty to send his former team home empty handed and wrap up the three points for Coventry.
Norwich City moved ahead of fellow playoff contenders Derby County with a 2-1 win at Pride Park. The result moves Norwich into fourth place and ends a six game home winning streak for the Rams.
A frenetic start saw all three goals scored in the opening 20 minutes. Norwich took an 11th minute lead in slightly fortuitous fashion. David Fox unleashed shot that took a sizable deflection off Shaun Barker, who was credited with an own goal after the ball slipped through the hands of Frank Fielding.
The Canaries doubled their lead two minutes later through Chris Martin. A good Norwich move released Simon Lappin down the right, and his cross was headed home by Martin to make the score 2-0.
It took Derby only four minutes to hit back when Kris Commons scored from close range to cut the deficit in half. In the 21st minute it took an excellent save by John Ruddy to deny Paul Green and keep Norwich in front.
In the second half Grant Holt was denied by Fielding, and then Andrew Crofts fired over as the Canaries looked to put the game out of reach.
Commons had a good chance for Derby after he dribbled into the area, but he fired wide and Norwich went on to gain an important three points.
Millwall ended a five game winless streak with a comfortable 3-0 victory over Scunthorpe United. The defeat means Scunthorpe are above the relegation zone on goal difference only. James Henry struck in the first half for the Lions, before Steve Morison scored twice in the final 10 minutes to seal the win.
Morison fired a 14th minute warning shot wide of Joe Murphy’s goal, before Henry fired Millwall into a 23rd minute lead. Henry collected the ball outside of the area and fired home a superb strike from 25 yards.
Millwall had the better of the second half play and Morison hammered home their dominance with his two late strikes. First the Republic of Ireland striker scored after beating several defenders, and then lashed close range shot past Murphy for the final 3-0 score line.
Swansea City moved within one point of Cardiff courtesy of a 3-1 win at Ipswich Town. Norwich City moved into fourth place with a 2-1 win at Pride Park that ended a six game home winning streak for Derby County. Leeds United climbed into the playoff spots with a 2-1 win over struggling Crystal Palace who remain in the bottom three.
At the bottom of the table, Middlesbrough remain in the relegation zone as they were beaten 1-0 at Coventry City, while Scunthorpe United are above the relegation zone on goal difference alone after a 3-0 defeat at Millwall.
Third place Swansea City won 3-1 at Ipswich Town to move within one point of the automatic promotion spots. Ipswich took a 50th minute lead through Andros Townsend, before Craig Beattie equalized and Joe Allen put the Swans in front. Beattie rounded off the win with his second goal in the 86th minute.
Swansea put Ipswich under pressure from the opening whistle and Brian Murphy was forced into good saves from Beattie and Scott Sinclair to keep the game scoreless.
Ipswich settled into the game and in the 32nd minute former Swan Jason Scotland hit a shot from distance that Dorus de Vries did well to turn around the post. Tamas Priskin then fired wide after beating several defenders, and Troy Brown had a header well saved by de Vries just before half-time.
Ipswich continued their good play after the break, and five minutes into the second half Tottenham Hotspur loanee Townsend opened the scoring. Carlos Edwards sent over an inviting cross that Townsend headed home at the back post.
Priskin had a golden opportunity to double the lead soon after but he directed his header straight at de Vries. Priskin would pay for his error as Swansea equalized against the run of play in the 64th minute.
Swansea were awarded a free kick near the by-line, and Mark Gower sent over an excellent cross that Beattie headed past Murphy to tie the scores. Six minutes later Swansea took the lead after a bad clearance from Tommy Smith fell to Allen, who poked the ball home for a 2-1 lead.
With five minutes remaining Ipswich believed they should have had a penalty when Edwards went down under an apparent foul from Gower. Swansea rubbed salt in the wound by going straight up the other end and wrapping up the 3-1 win courtesy of an excellent long range strike from Beattie.
A late Danny Graham winner gave Watford victory over Leicester City after they had thrown away a two goal lead. First half strikes from John Eustace and Will Buckley gave the Hornet’s a 2-0 lead, but two Paul Gallagher goals drew the Foxes level. Graham then snatched the win for Watford with a header five minutes from time.
Watford started well and defender Martin Taylor had an early chance to open the scoring when he volleyed wide from a Jordon Mutch corner. It was another Mutch set piece that created the opening goal, as a free kick from out wide was headed home by Eustace.
Watford doubled their lead in the 22nd minute courtesy of an error by Leicester goalkeeper Chris Weale. Don Cowie played a long, hopeful ball forward and Weale misjudged the flight of the ball, allowing Buckley the simple task of rolling the ball into an empty net.
Leicester responded well in the second half and halved the deficit from the penalty spot five minutes after the restart. Kyle Naughton’s cross was handled by Andrew Taylor and referee Kevin Wright pointed to the spot. Gallagher smashed the resulting penalty high into the net.
An excellent save from Scott Loach prevented Gallagher from equalizing, before the Scottish forward was fouled by Lloyd Doyley on the edge of the area. Gallagher got up to curl an excellent free kick over the wall and into the net to tie the scores.
Watford snatched victory with only five minutes remaining when a Mutch cross was flicked into the corner of the net by Graham to spark celebrations among the home fans.
Two late goals from Luciano Becchio gave Leeds United a comeback win over struggling Crystal Palace that sees Leeds climb into the playoff spots. Neil Danns gave Palace the lead but Becchio struck in the 81st and 83rd minute to give Leeds the win.
Leeds started brightly and had an early goal from Johnny Howson disallowed for offside. United also had a good 38th minute chance that Max Gradel fired wide.
Palace took the lead one minute before half-time with a sweeping counter-attack move. Nathaniel Clyne went to the by-line and cut the ball back behind James Vaughan for Danns to side foot home. Palace almost immediately doubled their lead but Kasper Schmeichel saved well from Darren Ambrose.
Palace did not sit on their lead and only good saves from Scheichel denied Danns and Ambrose in the second half. As the game progressed Leeds poured forward looking for an equalizer but were met with stiff resistance from Speroni.
First Becchio had a close range header blocked, and then Lloyd Sam was twice kept out by good saves from the Argentine goalkeeper.
The persistence of Leeds paid off in the final 10 minutes as Becchio produced his match winning brace. First he stabbed home a Neil Kilkenny corner, and then the South African international won the game as he fired past Speroni from the edge of the area.
An injury time equalizer by Andy Keogh helped second place Cardiff City win a point against bottom of the table Preston North End. Keogh’s strike denied Preston a surprise victory after a Michael Tonge free kick had opened the scoring in the first half.
Things did not start well for Cardiff when league leading goal scorer Jay Bothroyd limped out of the game with a hamstring problem after only eight minutes. Keogh replaced Bothroyd and was quickly in the thick of the action, as he laid the ball off to Craig Bellamy who fired just wide.
Preston took a shock lead in the 26th minute when Darel Russell was fouled by Mark Hudson on the edge of the penalty area. Tonge made Cardiff pay for their error when he drilled a low free kick past David Marshall to send the visiting fans into raptures.
Shortly after falling behind Cardiff manager Dave Jones had to make his second injury substitute in the first half as center back Darcy Blake limped off to be replaced by Gabor Gyepes.
Cardiff took control of possession in the second half, but failed to break down a stubborn Preston rearguard. Andy Lonergan saved well from Kevin McNaughton, and a Gyepes header in the 90th minute was cleared off the goal line by Billy Jones.
In the fourth minute of injury time Keogh came to the rescue and snatched a point for Cardiff with a dramatic equalizer. Peter Whittingham sent in a cross that Seyi Olofinjana headed down, Keogh then turned the ball home with a diving header.
Playoff contending Coventry City won 1-0 against struggling Middlesbrough in a game that was defined by two penalties. Leroy Lita missed a first half spot kick for the visitors, while Marlon King netted the winning goal from the penalty spot in the 78th minute.
Middlesbrough started well and Julio Arca produced a good save from Keiren Westwood with a strike from distance. Tony McMahon then went close with a header after getting on the end of a Gary O’Neil cross.
At the other end, a Clive Platt header forced a good save from Jason Steele, and the Middlesbrough goalkeeper then denied a long range effort from Gary McSheffrey.
Middlesbrough were awarded a golden opportunity to take the lead in the 31st minute when Lita was fouled by Nathan Cameron and a penalty kick was awarded. Westwood guessed right and saved the resulting penalty to keep the scores level.
The game continued in end to end fashion but Coventry scored the decisive goal from the penalty spot with only 12 minutes remaining. The impressive Gary McSheffrey was brought down by Matthew Bates, and King converted the penalty to send his former team home empty handed and wrap up the three points for Coventry.
Norwich City moved ahead of fellow playoff contenders Derby County with a 2-1 win at Pride Park. The result moves Norwich into fourth place and ends a six game home winning streak for the Rams.
A frenetic start saw all three goals scored in the opening 20 minutes. Norwich took an 11th minute lead in slightly fortuitous fashion. David Fox unleashed shot that took a sizable deflection off Shaun Barker, who was credited with an own goal after the ball slipped through the hands of Frank Fielding.
The Canaries doubled their lead two minutes later through Chris Martin. A good Norwich move released Simon Lappin down the right, and his cross was headed home by Martin to make the score 2-0.
It took Derby only four minutes to hit back when Kris Commons scored from close range to cut the deficit in half. In the 21st minute it took an excellent save by John Ruddy to deny Paul Green and keep Norwich in front.
In the second half Grant Holt was denied by Fielding, and then Andrew Crofts fired over as the Canaries looked to put the game out of reach.
Commons had a good chance for Derby after he dribbled into the area, but he fired wide and Norwich went on to gain an important three points.
Millwall ended a five game winless streak with a comfortable 3-0 victory over Scunthorpe United. The defeat means Scunthorpe are above the relegation zone on goal difference only. James Henry struck in the first half for the Lions, before Steve Morison scored twice in the final 10 minutes to seal the win.
Morison fired a 14th minute warning shot wide of Joe Murphy’s goal, before Henry fired Millwall into a 23rd minute lead. Henry collected the ball outside of the area and fired home a superb strike from 25 yards.
Millwall had the better of the second half play and Morison hammered home their dominance with his two late strikes. First the Republic of Ireland striker scored after beating several defenders, and then lashed close range shot past Murphy for the final 3-0 score line.
