Right, that’s all from me. It was, by all accounts, absolutely freezing at all the actual football matches, but from my centrally-heated seat it looked like a red-hot night of action (except for at Swansea). Bye!
Paul MacInnes was at Griffin Park to see one common-or-garden goalkeeping blunder, and one genuine goalkeeping howler. Here’s his report:
Brentford were thoroughly dominated by a revitalised Leeds and even needed their visitors to gift them a goal, but still came away with a point in this intriguing top-of-the-table encounter.
A horrible mistake from Kiko Casilla, not his first this season, let in Saïd Benrahma to open the scoring in the first half. But another goalkeeping error, from Brentford’s David Raya, allowed Liam Cooper to equalise before half-time. Leeds went on to grab hold of the match in the second half and created at least three good chances, but were unable to convert their superiority into victory.
Much more here:
Meanwhile in Italy...
In League Two the top four all won - Plymouth, in fourth, twice took and twice lost the lead at Salford before Ryan Hardie snaffled a 92nd-minute winner. There was a massive game at the bottom between Morecambe (who started the night 23rd) and Macclesfield (22nd); Morecambe won 2-0 and the teams swap places.
All the scores are here, if you want them.
In League One Coventry beat Portsmouth 1-0 in the battle of the, erm, two teams currently in the play-off positions. In other promotion-chasing news there were handsome wins for Peterborough and Sunderland while only one of the bottom eight teams won, and that was only because they (Accrington) were playing another of the bottom eight (Shrewsbury).
Final score: Barnsley 0-1 Birmingham
Blues had 36% of possession and only two shots on target, but it was enough to see them snaffle all three points from their trip to Barnsley.
Final score: Nottingham Forest 0-1 Charlton
That’s Charlton’s first away win since August! A huge result all-round for the Addicks, who move up to 19th in the league. Forest made five changes, and proceeded to play like strangers.
Updated
Final score: Wigan 2-2 Middlesbrough
Boro had 63% of possession but only two shots on target, and neither of them were very good, but they both went in and that’s how they came away with a point against 10-man Wigan.
Final score: Brentford 1-1 Leeds
Leeds were the better side at Griffin Park, but they couldn’t get the three points they needed to revivify their promotion charge.
Updated
Final score: Blackburn 3-0 Hull
That’s a fine and emphatic home victory for Blackburn. They had 26 shots, 11 on target, while Hull didn’t test the keeper once (they had 10 shots off target, mind).
Final score: Swansea 0-0 QPR
No goals here but perhaps a bit of controversy, judging by the throng of players who decide they’d like a chat with the referee after the final whistle sounds.
Crewe’s Chris Porter has scored a penalty, conceded a penalty, and now scored a last-minute (I’m being a bit premature here, but not very premature) winner at home to Crawley, so it looks like League Two’s top three will all win tonight (and at the moment none of the teams in fourth, fifth and sixth place can match them).
“Can you confirm if Wing’s goals came from outside the box?” asks Jack Briggs. “I’d hate for him to break his long-range goal streak. In fact I’d rather get relegated.” They did indeed.
If I’ve had little to say about Swansea v QPR, it’s because little seems to have happened. The home side haven’t had a shot on target yet; QPR have had four but by the sound of it none of them very good.
GOAL! And another GOAL! Blackburn 3-0 Hull (Armstrong, 79 mins & Samuel, 80 mins)
Two goals in 90 seconds for Blackburn! The first is a fabulous 20-yard thumper from Adam Armstrong, the ball always rising on its way into the roof of the net, and then a low shot just inside the same post from Dominic Samuel!
Swindon have taken the lead at Northampton, Jordan Lyden with a fine run from deep and decent header at the end of it, so it looks like they’ll be staying top of League Two after all.
GOAL! Barnsley 0-1 Birmingham (Hogan, 76 mins)
It’s a low cross from the right that finds Hogan in weird amounts of space inside the penalty area, albeit with his back to goal. He controls, spins, and spears a shot across goal and in!
GOAL! Wigan 2-2 Middlesbrough (Moukoudi og, 76 mins)
Ten-man Wigan draw level! It’s a decent cross from the right, and Harold Moukodi meets it in the middle with a fabulous diving header! An emphatic finish into his own net there.
GOAL! Blackburn 1-0 Hull (Lenihan, 73 mins)
A corner from the right is swung into the box, it’s headed into a thicket of humanity and after pinging around a bit Darragh Lenihan thumps it into the net!
Updated
Crewe have taken a 1-0 lead at home to Crawley, Chris Porter scoring from the spot, and with Swindon being held at Northampton that might be enough to take them top of League Two tonight!
GOAL! Wigan 1-2 Middlesbrough (Wing, 68 mins)
Another not-so-great shot from Lewis Wing, and another goal! David Marshall in the home nets has clearly learned from his earlier mistake and so cleverly anticipates a hefty deflection, but there isn’t one so he’s wrong-footed and the ball bounces past him! Either that or he just misjudges the flight of the ball completely.
“While I’ve every sympathy with Andy Woolmer having to check the underpants colours before the QPR game, spare a thought for the Leeds kitman who’ll have to face the kecks of Casilla and co. after tonight’s defensive calamities,” writes Justin Kavanagh. “It’ll be a long way from the queen’s famous observation of Jack Charlton’s FA Cup final strip: ‘Whiter than white,’ (to which he replied ‘I’m no angel, ma’am!’).”
Exeter are now 4-1 up against Oldham. Goalline handballs are very rarely wise, as David Wheater really should know by now.
GOAL! Wigan 1-1 Middlesbrough (Wing, 64 mins)
Boro score from the resulting free-kick! It wasn’t very good, but it hit the wall and the deflection carried it past a wrong-footed keeper!
Red card! Wigan’s Chey Dunkley gets a pretty harsh second yellow card and they’ll play the remainder of their game with Middlesbrough with (at most) 10 men!
Great chance for Leeds! It all opens up for Helder Costa on the edge of the area, but with time to weigh up his options he decides to send a tame left-footer rolling limply straight at Raya.
Only one of League Two’s top three is winning currently and that’s Exeter - Archie Collins has put them 3-1 up against 10-man Oldham.
More dodgy goalkeeping from Casilla at Brentford, as he lets a long boot upfield bounce over him, but he scrambles back to claim the loose ball first.
No Championship second-half goals but there has been one in League One, where Sriki Dembele has put Peterborough 1-0 up at home to Southend, who had hit the bar just moments earlier. With Wycombe drawing 0-0 at home to Fleetwood, that might be enough to send Posh second.
Play resumes at Griffin Park and, apparently, lots of other places!
Jonny Mac thinks he’s got an answer to the Swansea short-hitching mystery. “Apparently, Fifa laws state that the Referee has to make sure players undies are the same colour as their shorts before they take to the field,” he writes. I’m not sure that was a full underpant check, though. If so, it was extremely cursory.
I’ve had a proper look at the Brentford goal, and it was a complete shambles. An utter horrorshow. The ball was played to Casilla from Leeds’ left flank and he put out a foot to control it, missed it altogether and then fell over, allowing Benrahma to run in and slot into an empty net. Really extraordinarily ugly.
The halftime whistle blows at Griffin Park, where it’s 1-1. Elsewhere it’s goalless at Barnsley, Blackburn and Swansea while relegation-haunted Charlton lead 1-0 at Nottingham Forest and relegation-haunted Wigan lead 1-0 at home to Middlesbrough.
No goals at Barnsley, but on the plus side it is snowing.
A busy night for David Wheater, who has equalised for Oldham at Exeter and has now been sent off for deliberate handball. From the resulting penalty, Exeter’s Matt Jay make it 2-1. The rest of the night is unlikely to be so busy for Wheater.
GOAL! Brentford 1-1 Leeds United (Cooper, 38 mins)
Calamitous goalkeeping seems to be catching, which is more that can be said of David Raya. It’s a corner from the right, swung into the mixer. Raya comes for it, gets nothing on it, and Liam Cooper scores into the empty net!
Sunderland are 3-0 up at home to Rochdale now, Lynden Gooch getting his second of the game, and the Sunderland twitterati seem worried that the scoreline could get really messy before the night’s out.
Another chance for Brentford, after a right-wing throw-in was played across the area. The resulting shot deflects wide, and Brentford take so long over not just taking the resulting corner but even looking remotely interested in doing so that a Leeds player fetches the ball and places it by the flag. That’s top-level timewasting after 31 minutes of a home game.
GOAL! Wigan 1-0 Middlesbrough (Morsy, 29 mins)
One of those shots that has very little power but enough accuracy to make up for it, and Sam Morsy’s shot from the edge of the area trickles into the far corner!
Updated
GOAL! Brentford 1-0 Leeds (Benrahma, 25 mins)
No replays on Sky’s red button service and I was a bit distracted by the goings-on in Nottingham, but that looked to be a completely hopeless attempt to play the ball out from the back, Cooper eventually playing the ball back to Casilla, who was fast asleep. The keeper let the ball slip by him, and Benrahma did the rest.
What a mistake from Casilla!
— Brentford FC (@BrentfordFC) February 11, 2020
He lets a routine backpass from Cooper under his foot, then slips and Said is left to tap into an empty net
🐝 1-0 ⚪#BRELEE | #BrentfordFC https://t.co/Ptsv3xQ7l6
Updated
GOAL! Nottingham Forest 0-1 Charlton (Taylor, 24 mins)
Naby Sarr’s left-wing cross has been smashed into the back of the net by Lyle Taylor, and Charlton seem quite happy about it!
24' WHAT A BLOODY GOAL!!!! OH MY WORD!!!#nffc 0 #cafc 1 pic.twitter.com/5mo8NMWC9G
— Charlton Athletic FC (@CAFCofficial) February 11, 2020
There have been 120 minutes of Championship football played this evening, and not a goal to be seen. After a rocky opening couple of minutes, Leeds are completely dominating their game at Brentford, though without actually creating much.
Updated
Fifteen minutes in and Sunderland are two up! It’s a lovely own-goal from Eoghan O’Connell, who sticks out a foot to divert a low centre away from lurking forwards and sends it looping over his keeper and under the bar, quite a feat from only eight yards or so.
There are a couple of goals to tell you about in League One: Blackpool have taken a seventh-minute lead at home to Gillingham, Armand Gnanduillet with the goal, and Lynden Gooch has put Sunderland a goal up against Rochdale in the 11th. League-leading Rotherham have the night off, so it’s a chance for everyone else to catch up.
A third terrible miss in the Championship, and potentially a big one. Harrison robs a defender wide on the left and skips into the area, then a little further into the area, and he just keeps on going. Eventually he’s about eight yards out but has to spin and shoot back the way he’s come, and he gets that all wrong. The ball bobbles miserably to Raya.
Talking of sitters, this was an incredible chance, about three seconds after kick-off. A long hoist forward was flicked on, a defender miskicked and suddenly Armstrong was in on goal, but his finish was tentative and deflected wide.
1: #Rovers 0-0 #hcafc
— Blackburn Rovers (@Rovers) February 11, 2020
Almost an opener after just 10 seconds! Ball played up top is misjudged by McLoughlin allowing Armstrong in and he is denied by the legs of Long! #ROVvHUL 🔵⚪️
They undersell this, it was an absolute sitter. There was only the onrushing goalkeeper between Hugill and goal as the ball dropped his way, but he lifted it over the bar with his left peg.
4' Close for the R's!
— QPR FC (@QPR) February 11, 2020
Mix up at the back gives Hugill a chance from 16 yards but his effort goes just over!
(0-0) #SWAQPR
In League One, Rhys Healey has given MK Dons a third-minute lead at Lincoln.
Brentford have bossed the opening exchanges and Dasilva has had the first shot, though it was extremely weak and generally unimpressive.
Action! At Griffin Park Brentford get the ball rolling against Leeds, who are clad top to toe (well, ankle) in sky blue.
Updated
What’s with the short-hitching?
🎥 It’s game time! #SWAQPR pic.twitter.com/36iCBK3g58
— QPR FC (@QPR) February 11, 2020
The teams are in the tunnels! Action just a couple of minutes away now.
I’m sure the decision to televise Swansea v QPR seemed sensible at the time, particularly with Leeds’ game at Nottingham Forest having been broadcast on Saturday, and Brentford’s at Hull a week earlier, but Griffin Park is where it’s going on tonight. I’ll try to keep my beady eye on as many games as I can, but with a focus on Brentford.
Here’s confirmation of the Nottingham Forest v Charlton teams:
Nottingham Forest: Samba, Jenkinson, Tobias Figueiredo, Worrall, Bong, Watson, Yates, Lolley, Tiago Silva, Diakhaby, Walker. Subs: Nuno Da Costa, Joao Carvalho, Cash, Semedo, Dawson, Mighten, Muric.
Charlton: Phillips, Matthews, Lockyer, Pearce, Sarr, Doughty, Cullen, Oztumer, Davis, Hemed, Taylor. Subs: Purrington, Oshilaja, Aneke, Amos, McGeady, Bonne, Smith.
Referee: Darren Bond.
Some more teams!
I’ve no idea what’s going on with Nottingham Forest v Charlton, but my official team-sheet supplier, PA Media, are yet to send me their line-ups. I’ll bring them to you when I get them, but in the meantime you’ll find their official Twitter-based team announcements down below.
Brentford v Leeds
Brentford: Raya, Dalsgaard, Jeanvier, Pinnock, Henry, Jensen, Norgaard, Da Silva, Mbeumo, Watkins, Benrahma. Subs: Valencia, Marcondes, Fosu, Baptiste, Daniels, Luca Racic, Roerslev Rasmussen.
Leeds: Casilla, Ayling, White, Cooper, Dallas, Phillips, Helder Costa, Klich, Hernandez, Harrison, Bamford. Subs: Meslier, Douglas, Alioski, Berardi, Augustin, Shackleton, Stevens.
Referee: Robert Jones.
Swansea v QPR
Swansea: Woodman, Roberts, Guehi, Rodon, Naughton, Grimes, Ayew, Gallagher, Celina, Dhanda, Brewster. Subs: Fulton, Routledge, Kalulu, Bidwell, Mulder, Cullen, Cabango.
QPR: Kelly, Rangel, Hall, Barbet, Manning, Ball, Cameron, Samuel, Eze, Pugh, Hugill. Subs: Lumley, Kane, Amos, Oteh, Chair, Masterson, Clarke.
Referee: Andy Woolmer.
T E A M 🔴 N E W S
— Nottingham Forest FC (@NFFC) February 11, 2020
Brought to you in association with @FootballIndex #NFFC pic.twitter.com/nUFkQ4yMmi
TEAM NEWS 📝
— Charlton Athletic FC (@CAFCofficial) February 11, 2020
Here's how the Addicks line up at the City Ground this evening... #cafc pic.twitter.com/Y3iyw7NE3R
Updated
Some teams!
Team news is filtering through, and here are the first six teams to drop into my inbox:
Barnsley v Birmingham
Barnsley: Collins, Jordan Williams, Sollbauer, Andersen, Oduor, Styles, Mowatt, Simoes, Woodrow, Brown, Chaplin. Subs: Dougall, Bahre, Walton, Ludewig, Thomas, Schmidt, Halme.
Birmingham: Camp, Colin, Roberts, Clarke-Salter, Pedersen, Montero, Gary Gardner, Sunjic, Bellingham, Hogan, Jutkiewicz. Subs: Harding, Crowley, Bela, Dean, Trueman, Keita, Boyd-Munce.
Referee: Dean Whitestone
Blackburn v Hull
Blackburn: Walton, Nyambe, Lenihan, Adarabioyo, Bell, Travis, Johnson, Bennett, Downing, Armstrong, Graham. Subs: Williams, Chapman, Samuel, Leutwiler, Davenport, Brereton, Buckley.
Hull: Long, Da Silva Lopes, McKenzie, McLoughlin, Elder, Batty, Honeyman, Maddison, Irvine, Wilks, Magennis. Subs: Eaves, Ingram, Kingsley, Lewis-Potter, Bonds, Berry, Smith.
Referee: Jeremy Simpson.
Wigan v Middlesbrough
Wigan: Marshall, Byrne, Kipre, Dunkley, Naismith, Morsy, Williams, Pilkington, Gelhardt, Jacobs, Moore. Subs: Evans, Lowe, Massey, Garner, Roberts, Jones, Balogun.
Middlesbrough: Pears, Howson, Moukoudi, Fry, Coulson, McNair, Saville, Morrison, Wing, Fletcher, Assombalonga. Subs: Mejias, Tavernier, Clayton, Gestede, Nmecha, Johnson, Spence.
Referee: Oliver Langford.
Hello world!
There are only six games on the menu tonight, but a while lot of intrigue. To summarise: Second-placed Leeds have lost four of their last five and tonight travel to fifth-placed Brentford, who have the best defence in the division as well as the second-best attack and have only lost twice in two months. Fourth-placed Nottingham Forest have beaten both Brentford and Leeds in the last fortnight, and tonight host relegation-haunted Charlton, who have also beaten both Brentford and Leeds this season, but have won only six other games, and two in 19 since mid-October (neither of them away).
Before kick-off the Addicks sit one place if four points above 22nd-placed Wigan (who welcome Middlesbrough), but having previously won one game in 16 the Terriers have now won two out of three (including, yes, one against Leeds) to reignite their survival flame. Barnsley, who are 23rd, eight points and a hefty whack of goal difference from safety, are at home to Birmingham, who haven’t lost a game in any competition since New Year’s Day.
Elsewhere Blackburn should be favourites for their home game against Hull, separated as they are by four points, but Hull are particularly good away from home – they’re ninth in the away table, compared with 20th in the home one – and neither side is in great form. QPR have lost six of their last eight matches overall, as well as six of their last eight away games, and thus won’t feel confident about anything. Their opponents, Swansea, are still trading on the glory of a run of five wins in six unbeaten games at the start of the season and their form in the last few months has been decidedly humdrum. Take that opening sprint away and over the last 25 games they have the division’s 19th-best record, which isn’t great (though still one better than QPR).
So, that’s where we stand. Tonight’s fixtures in full (all 7.45pm GMT):
Barnsley v Birmingham City
Blackburn Rovers v Hull City
Brentford v Leeds United
Nottingham Forest v Charlton Athletic
Swansea City v Queens Park Rangers
Wigan Athletic v Middlesbrough
