West Brom keep pace after win at Aston Villa as Blades carve up Reading

Jay Rodriguez celebrates scoring West Brom’s second goal in the win at Aston Villa. Photograph: Carl Recine/Action Images via Reuters

Championship

West Brom did the damage in the five minutes before the break to stay firmly in the promotion hunt with a 2-0 win at Midlands rivals Aston Villa. Hal Robson-Kanu headed the Baggies in front in the 41st minute before Jay Rodriguez added a second moments later to ensure Darren Moore’s side made the short trip home with all three points. Villa are now seven points off the final play-off place.

Related: Teemu Pukki scores twice for rampant Norwich in thrashing of Bolton

In the early game debutant Dominic Iorfa was the Sheffield Wednesday hero as he scored a dramatic equaliser in the 10th minute of added time to earn a point at Rotherham. The on-loan Wolves man equalised with the final kick before his teammate Fernando Forestieri added to the chaotic finale by getting himself sent off for going into the crowd during the celebrations. Forestieri had earlier put Wednesday ahead before goals from Jon Taylor and Richie Towell looked set to give the Millers a win.

Sheffield United pumped Reading 4-0 at Bramall Lane to go second behind Norwich, who themselves won 4-0 at Bolton. Gary Madine got two before half-time after Kieron Freeman gave the Blades the lead, with John Fleck adding the fourth just after the break.

At Portman Road, Ipswich’s January loan signing Will Keane left it very late to atone for Jonas Knudson’s mistake that allowed James McClean to put Stoke ahead. Keane’s added-time strike gave the Tractor Boys a point that saw them gain ground on Bolton and Reading above them.

There were no goals at Deepdale as Preston North End and Nottingham Forest played out a draw.

Rotherham 2-2 Sheffield Wednesday, Aston Villa 0-2 West Brom, Bolton 0-4 Norwich, Ipswich 1-1 Stoke, Preston North End 0-0 Nottingham Forest, Sheffield United 4-0 Reading.

Pos	Team	P	GD	Pts
1	Norwich	33	23	63
2	Sheff Utd	33	24	61
3	Leeds	32	17	61
4	West Brom	32	24	57
5	Bristol City	31	10	53
6	Middlesbrough	31	11	51
7	Derby	31	7	51
8	Nottm Forest	33	8	47
9	Birmingham	32	9	46
10	Aston Villa	33	4	44
11	Preston North End	33	3	44
12	Hull	32	3	44
13	Swansea	32	3	44
14	Blackburn	32	-6	43
15	Sheff Wed	32	-11	41
16	Brentford	31	7	40
17	Stoke	33	-7	40
18	QPR	31	-8	39
19	Wigan	32	-14	34
20	Millwall	31	-11	31
21	Reading	33	-15	29
22	Rotherham	33	-20	29
23	Bolton	33	-30	26
24	Ipswich	33	-31	20

League One

Luton’s unbeaten run is now at 20 games and showed know sign of ending at Fleetwood. Two quick-fire goals just before half-time from George Moncur and Pelly Ruddock set Mick Harford’s side en route for three points with Paddy Madden’s added-time effort little more than a consolation by that point.

Earlier, promotion chasers Portsmouth saw their bid to catch Barnsley in second place suffer a blow at Roots Hall as Simon Cox’s hat-trick salvaged a point for Southend who trailed 3-0 after half an hour.

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Barnsley took advantage of Pompey’s earlier slip to make the gap five points with Cauley Woodrow getting both goals, one from the spot, to dispatch mid-table Wycombe 2-1. There was late drama at Oakwell as Adam El-Abd was sent off before Joe Jacobson scored a penalty in the 100th minute.

Goals from Amadou Bakayoko, Jordy Hiwula and Bright Enobakhare saw Coventry dispatch Walsall 3-0 at the Ricoh Arena.

Ivan Toney’s goal was enough to give Peterborough a 1-0 win at Oxford and keep them in touch teams in the play-off sides.

Gillingham gave themselves some breathing room at the other end of the table with a Mark Byrne strike on the half hour giving them all three points against Scunthorpe.

There was a draw with a goal for each side between Shrewsbury and Burton. There were scoreless stalemates at Valley Parade, where Bradford welcomed Plymouth, and at the Valley as Charlton hosted Blackpool.

Southend 3-3 Portsmouth, Barnsley 2-1 Wycombe, Bradford City 0-0 Plymouth, Charlton 0-0 Blackpool, Coventry 3-0 Walsall, Fleetwood 1-2 Luton, Gillingham 1-0 Scunthorpe, Oxford 0-1 Peterborough, Shrewsbury 1-1 Burton Albion

Pos	Team	P	GD	Pts
1	Luton	33	38	71
2	Barnsley	32	31	65
3	Portsmouth	32	19	60
4	Sunderland	31	23	59
5	Charlton	33	15	56
6	Doncaster	31	19	53
7	Peterborough	33	7	52
8	Blackpool	32	6	48
9	Coventry	33	-1	46
10	Fleetwood Town	33	8	45
11	Wycombe	33	-5	43
12	Burton Albion	32	2	42
13	Southend	33	-1	40
14	Scunthorpe	33	-17	40
15	Plymouth	33	-13	38
16	Accrington Stanley	30	-11	37
17	Gillingham	32	-11	36
18	Walsall	33	-19	35
19	Rochdale	32	-25	34
20	Bristol Rovers	31	-4	33
21	Oxford Utd	32	-10	33
22	Shrewsbury	32	-10	33
23	Bradford	33	-16	33
24	AFC Wimbledon	32	-25	26

League Two

Stevenage’s Ilias Chair denied Lincoln City the opportunity to stretch their lead at the top of League Two with the QPR loanee’s 94th-minute equaliser adding to his strike seven minutes prior to complete a comeback from 2-0 down and snatch a point. The Imps’ unbeaten league run stretches to nine games but not in the manner they would have hoped.

Notts County’s survival hopes got a major boost as Craig Mackail-Smith’s first goal since October earned a battling home victory over Mansfield in front of 12,660 fans at Meadow Lane. The Stags fall to third, four points behind leaders Lincoln and now trail Bury by two after Nicky Maynard’s goal gave the Shakers victory at Exeter.

In the battle of the play-off hopefuls Carlisle ran MK Dons close but Hallam Hope’s 90th-minute strike was not enough to spark a late rally as the visitors held on for a 3-2 win.

Forest Green moved up to fifth by dispatching struggling Yeovil. Mark Cooper’s side were 3-0 up before the hour.

Staying at the bottom of the table, Morecambe bagged a vital three points on the road at Port Vale, Aaron Collins got the only goal of the game. It was the same scoreline at Blundell Park where Grimsby beat Cheltenham.

Macclesfield drew 1-1 at home with Colchester, as did Oldham with Crewe. Cambridge and Tranmere played out a goalless draw.

Notts County 1-0 Mansfield, Cambridge 0-0 Tranmere, Carlisle 2-3 MK Dons, Exeter 0-1 Bury, Forest Green 3-0 Yeovil, Grimsby 1-0 Cheltenham, Lincoln 2-2 Stevenage, Macclesfield 1-1 Colchester, Northampton 0-0 Crawley, Oldham 1-1 Crewe1, Port Vale 0-1 Morecambe

Pos	Team	P	GD	Pts
1	Lincoln City	32	24	62
2	Bury	33	24	60
3	Mansfield	33	22	58
4	Milton Keynes Dons	33	19	56
5	Forest Green	33	18	54
6	Colchester	33	17	53
7	Carlisle	33	11	52
8	Exeter	32	11	51
9	Stevenage	33	-4	48
10	Oldham	32	11	46
11	Tranmere	32	5	46
12	Grimsby	33	-2	46
13	Crewe	33	-3	46
14	Swindon	32	-3	46
15	Newport County	31	-10	43
16	Northampton	33	-4	39
17	Crawley Town	33	-10	38
18	Cambridge Utd	32	-21	36
19	Cheltenham	32	-13	35
20	Port Vale	32	-12	33
21	Morecambe	32	-17	32
22	Yeovil	33	-14	30
23	Macclesfield	33	-21	29
24	Notts County	32	-28	28