Championship
Christoph Zimmermann’s powerful header in the 69th minute helped fire Norwich back to the top as Daniel Farke’s side were made to work hard for their 3-1 victory at Millwall. Norwich got off to a bright start thanks to Marco Stiepermann’s left-footed shot in the 16th minute, but Millwall fought their way back into the game and Shaun Williams levelled with a header just before the interval. But the Canaries are known for strong second-half finishes and so it proved again, with Teemu Pukki adding a third in the 79th minute to stay top of the scoring charts on 24 goals.
Aston Villa dented Derby County’s play-off hopes with four goals in a phenomenal first-half display at Villa Park. The Rams trail sixth-placed Bristol City, who needed Famara Diedhiou to salvage a point with a second-half strike in a 1-1 draw at Preston. Middlesbrough missed a hatful of chances in a goalless draw at Wigan as they wasted the chance to go level on points with fourth-placed West Brom.
Hull kept their outside hopes of making the play-offs alive with a 2-0 win over Birmingham, while Brentford extended their winning home run to seven games in all competitions as they enjoyed a 3-0 derby win over Steve McClaren’s QPR. Stoke City ended their six-game winless run with an impressive 2-0 win against play-off hopefuls Nottingham Forest that was secured by Benik Afobe’s 74th-minute strike.
At the bottom of the table, Semi Ajayi scored twice as Rotherham boosted their survival hopes with a 3-2 win at the New York Stadium against nosediving Blackburn, who are without a league win in six. It means third-bottom Rotherham are level on points with Reading, who beat rock-bottom Ipswich 2-1, and are only a point behind Millwall. Second-bottom Bolton suffered two red cards at Swansea as they were beaten 2-0, but the home side took until the 80th minute to break Wanderers’ resistance, with a goal from Oliver McBurnie before Bersant Celina added a second in injury time.
Aston Villa 4-0 Derby County, Brentford 3-0 QPR, Hull City 2-0 Birmingham City, Ipswich Town 1-2 Reading, Millwall 1-3 Norwich, Preston 1-1 Bristol City, Rotherham 3-2 Blackburn, Stoke City 2-0 Nottingham Forest, Swansea City 2-0 Bolton, Wigan 0-0 Middlesbrough
League One
Luton weren’t at their fluent best against Rochdale but Danny Hylton’s close-range strike in the 59th minute set them on their way to a 2-0 win, their seventh in eight games, to stay five points clear at the top. Earlier in the day, second-placed Barnsley put pressure on the Hatters as they shrugged off Jacob Brown’s 35th-minute red card to seal an impressive 3-0 win at Southend, with second-half goals from Cameron McGeehan, Cauley Woodrow and Jordan Green.
Lee Cattermole scored his fifth goal of the season as his first-half strike set Sunderland on their way to a 2-0 victory over Plymouth, whose 1,700 fans endured an 806-mile round trip to see their team go home empty-handed. The win keeps the Black Cats three points ahead of Portsmouth, who ended a winless streak that runs back to 1 January with an emphatic 5-1 defeat of second-bottom Bradford, who are deep in trouble and still without a full-time manager. Peterborough found their shooting boots as they traded blows with Wycombe in an entertaining 4-2 victory that took Posh level on points with Doncaster – who drew 1-1 with Charlton – in the last play-off spot.
Jonson Clarke-Harris had a day to remember as he scored a hat-trick for Bristol Rovers in their resounding 4-0 defeat of Blackpool. The win moved Rovers to within two points of Walsall, one place above the relegation zone, who drew 0-0 with Burton. Wimbledon, however, remain nine points from safety after their 0-0 draw with Shrewsbury.
Southend United 0-3 Barnsley, Accrington Stanley 0-1 Coventry, Bristol Rovers 4-0 Blackpool, Burton 0-0 Walsall, Doncaster Rovers 1-1 Charlton Athletic, Fleetwood Town 1-1 Gillingham, Luton Town 2-0 Rochdale, Oxford United 2-1 Scunthorpe United, Peterborough United 4-2 Wycombe Wanderers, Portsmouth 5-1 Bradford City, Shrewsbury Town 0-0 Wimbledon, Sunderland 2-0 Plymouth
League Two
Lincoln City were grateful to two goals from John Akinde for their 2-1 comeback win at Forest Green that kept them nestled neatly at the top of the table, three points ahead of Bury, who comprehensively beat second-bottom Macclesfield 3-0 at Gigg Lane. Sol Campbell’s side are now four points off safety after Port Vale drew 0-0 with rock-bottom Notts County. In the other relegation battle, Yeovil leapfrogged Morecambe to pull six points clear of Macclesfield in a rollicking 3-2 victory sealed by a wonderful Ryan Seager strike from outside the area in the 87th minute.
CJ Hamilton’s quickfire brace before half-time helped Mansfield on their way to a 4-2 win over Cheltenham and keeps them safely in the third automatic promotion place, two points ahead of MK Dons, who beat Crawley 1-0.
Bury 3-0 Macclesfield, Crewe 0-2 Northampton, Exeter City 0-1 Tranmere, Forest Green 1-2 Lincoln, Grimsby 0-2 Cambridge United, Mansfield Town 4-2 Cheltenham, MK Dons 1-0 Crawley, Newport County 2-0 Carlisle, Notts County 0-0 Port Vale, Oldham 1-1 Stevenage, Swindon 3-0 Colchester, Yeovil 3-2 Morecambe
