Championship
Bolton were condemned to relegation back to League One after two seasons in the second tier, losing 2-0 to Aston Villa, the form team of the division, who collected a ninth successive win after goals from Jack Grealish and Tammy Abraham.
The beneficiaries of Leeds’ shock 2-1 loss to Wigan, Sheffield United, climbed up to second by beating Nottingham Forest 2-0 in a lunchtime encounter. Moments after Yohan Benalouane was sent off for a last-man foul on David McGoldrick in the 47th minute, Mark Duffy whipped in the opening goal before Enda Stevens added a late second.
Birmingham twice took the lead against Derby through goals from Lukas Jutkiewicz before being pegged back by goals from Martyn Waghorn and Richard Keogh as the game finished 2-2. Derby finished the day in eighth. At the Hawthorns, West Brom fought back from 2-1 down to beat Hull thanks to two goals from Dwight Gayle.
Bristol City stumbled in their chase for the play-offs by being held to a 1-1 home draw by Reading. An equaliser from Josh Brownhill was required after Yakou Méïté had opened the scoring for the visitors. Middlesbrough climbed back into sixth spot after a third successive win by beating Stoke, with Britt Assombalonga scoring the only goal in the second minute.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Norwich | 42 | 34 | 86 |
| 2 | Sheff Utd | 43 | 32 | 82 |
| 3 | Leeds | 43 | 26 | 82 |
| 4 | West Brom | 43 | 26 | 76 |
| 5 | Aston Villa | 43 | 21 | 72 |
Rotherham, desperate for points in their battle against the drop, ran in-form Swansea close in a game that finished 4-3 at the Liberty. Rotherham took the lead in the 10th minute through Michael Ihiekwe, but found themselves 4-2 down after Oli McBurnie had scored his second. Will Vaulks’ goal set up a tight finish, but Rotherham remain third bottom.
Millwall, fourth bottom, and Brentford played out a 1-1 draw with Josh Dasilva’s equaliser coming five minutes after Lee Gregory had scored in the 15th minute for Millwall, who are still looking over their shoulders. Blackburn won 2-1 at QPR, with Bradley Dack’s 46th minute goal proving decisive and relegated Ipswich lost 4-0 to Preston with Lukas Nmecha scoring two goals.
Bristol City 1-1 Reading, Sheff Utd 2-0 Nottm Forest, Millwall 1-1 Brentford, Birmingham 2-2 Derby, Bolton 0-2 Aston Villa, Leeds 1-2 Wigan, Middlesbrough 1-0 Stoke, PNE 4-0 Ipswich, QPR 1-2 Blackburn, Swansea 4-3 Rotherham, West Brom 3-2 Hull, Norwich 2-2 Sheff Wed
League One
Portsmouth scored a disputed late winner through Matt Clarke at Burton for a 2-1 win. They stay within two points of second-placed Barnsley, who beat Shrewsbury 2-1 thanks to a 55th-minute winner goal from Jacob Brown. Sunderland beat Doncaster 2-0 in the evening game to go third – and host Portsmouth next Saturday.
Coventry’s 2-0 defeat of Bradford, the Bantams’ seventh loss in a row, condemned the West Yorkshire club to relegation. Jordi Hiwula and Bright Enobakhare were on target for the Sky Blues, while Nathaniel Knight-Percival’s was sent off for a second yellow card.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Luton | 42 | 44 | 87 |
| 2 | Barnsley | 43 | 38 | 85 |
| 3 | Sunderland | 42 | 35 | 83 |
| 4 | Portsmouth | 42 | 32 | 83 |
| 5 | Charlton | 43 | 23 | 79 |
Charlton’s hopes of automatic promotion took a jolt when they lost 2-1 at Oxford as both teams had men sent off. Oxford keeper Simon Eastwood was dismissed for handling outside his area in the 54th minute but the Addicks’ Chris Solly was shown a straight red 20 minutes later. Lyle Taylor scored a fifth-minute penalty, a bright start quickly overturned by a fine volley from Curtis Nelson and a Luke Garbutt free-kick.
Wimbledon had looked to be climbing out of the relegation zone when they led Bristol Rovers through a goal from Joe Pigott before Ollie Clarke’s 78th minute equaliser dropped the Dons back into trouble.
Rochdale scored a crucial late goal through captain Ian Henderson to beat Wycombe and climb out of the bottom four. Scunthorpe stayed a point clear after drawing 0-0 with Blackpool.
Coventry 2-0 Bradford, Oxford 2-1 Charlton, Barnsley 2-1 Shrewsbury, Burton 1-2 Portsmouth, Fleetwood 1-1 Peterborough, Gillingham 3-1 Plymouth, Rochdale 1-0 Wycombe, Scunthorpe 0-0 Blackpool, Walsall 1-1 Southend, Wimbledon 1-0 Bristol Rovers, Sunderland 2-0 Doncaster
League Two
Already-promoted Lincoln missed a chance to clinch the title when losing 1-0 at Carlisle, for a first defeat since Boxing Day.
Mansfield moved up to second place with a crushing 4-0 defeat of Morecambe after Bury lost 3-1 at Newport. MK Dons thus moved up to third by winning 2-1 at Notts County.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lincoln City | 43 | 34 | 84 |
| 2 | Mansfield | 43 | 31 | 76 |
| 3 | Milton Keynes Dons | 43 | 23 | 75 |
| 4 | Bury | 43 | 24 | 74 |
| 5 | Tranmere | 43 | 15 | 71 |
Exeter’s 3-1 home defeat to Crawley left them clinging on to the seventh and final play-off position with Carlisle now just a point behind them.
The position at the bottom of the table remained the same after third-bottom Macclesfield lost 3-1 at Northampton, but neither Notts County nor second-bottom Yeovil could capitalise.
Yeovil lost 2-0 at Crewe, a match in which 20-year-old Alex keeper Will Jääskeläinen made his league debut alongside veteran Nicky Hunt, who played alongside father Jussi at Bolton, and kept a maiden clean sheet.
Exeter 1-3 Crawley, Cambridge 0-0 Swindon, Carlisle 1-0 Lincoln, Cheltenham 0-0 Oldham, Colchester 1-0 Grimsby, Crewe 2-0 Yeovil, Mansfield 4-0 Morecambe, Newport 3-1 Bury, Northampton 3-1 Macclesfield, Notts County 1-2 MK Dons, Port Vale 1-4 Stevenage, Tranmere 0-1 Forest Green
