Wolves’ cruise towards the Championship title hit a patch of rough water in a 2-2 draw with Hull. They were 2-1 down at Molineux after 78 minutes before the rookie defender Oskar Buur headed the leaders level with seven minutes left.
Nuno Espírito Santo was not best pleased. “We had to show our character. Our character is always there but it was not a good performance,” the Wolves manager said. “We wanted three points so we are not happy.”
Wolves were without the midfielder Rúben Neves and the full-back Matt Doherty after they were sent off in Friday’s game at Middlesbrough. Diogo Jota put them ahead with an 18th-minute penalty after being fouled by Michael Hector but Hull, desperate to boost their survival hopes, equalised with a spot-kick of their own, scored by David Meyler eight minutes before half-time. They took the lead when Ryan Bennett scored an unfortunate own goal. A point for Wolves increased their advantage over second-placed Cardiff, who they visit on Friday, to six points.
Slavisa Jokanovic wants Fulham to keep putting pressure on Cardiff after his side moved to within five points of the automatic promotion places with a 2-0 home win over Leeds. A bizarre goal off Kevin McDonald’s backside was followed by Aleksandar Mitrovic’s eighth strike in as many games as Fulham extended their unbeaten league run to 18 matches. Jokanovic said: “We can do it, we can try to repair ourselves and be ready for our next game but everything depends on Cardiff, they must lose.”
Steve Bruce was also thinking of going straight up after Aston Villa’s comfortable 3-0 home win over struggling Reading, who were reduced to 10 men for the last hour. Second-half goals from Birkir Bjarnason, Conor Hourihane and Scott Hogan did the damage. Bruce said: “There are going to a few twists and turns, and remember we take on Cardiff at home next week.”
Garry Monk oversaw a third win in a row for Birmingham with a 1-0 victory at Bolton, even though Che Adams was sent off. Lukas Jutkiewicz scored with a left-footed shot in the 40th minute. “We knew it was a massive game against a team who are directly above us,” Monk said. “What three wins in a row have done is keep boosting the belief. However, we are still very much in a relegation fight. It is going to change week to week.”
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wolverhampton | 40 | 37 | 86 |
| 2 | Cardiff | 39 | 29 | 80 |
| 3 | Fulham | 40 | 29 | 75 |
| 4 | Aston Villa | 40 | 27 | 73 |
| 5 | Derby | 39 | 19 | 65 |
