Championship
- Wolverhampton Wanderers opened up a seven-point lead at the top of the table thanks to a 1-0 home win over Ipswich Town. Ivan Cavaleiro’s low effort from the edge of the box in the 40th minute proved decisive in a closely-contested match. Mick McCarthy’s Ipswich dropped down to 10th in the table but are still only three points off the play-off places.
- Bolton Wanderers ended Cardiff City’s six-game unbeaten run to earn a 2-0 win. It was only the home side’s fourth victory of the season and helped boost their survival hopes as Sunderland and Birmingham – the two other sides keeping them company in the bottom three – drew 1-1 at the Stadium of Light. Gary Madine’s 74th-minute penalty gave Bolton the lead, before Josh Vela made sure of victory
- Derby County moved up to third after a five-minute first-half goalrush in which David Nugent scored twice and Matej Vydra added another against Millwall. It was County’s sixth win in seven and one that was not surprising given the visitors have now failed to win any of their 12 games on the road in the league this season.
- Elsewhere, Leeds moved back into the play-off places as a 1-0 victory over Hull City at Elland Road maintained their resurgent form. A clever dink over Allan McGregor by Pablo Hernández sealed victory for Thomas Christiansen’s side, while Nigel Adkins suffered his second consecutive 1-0 defeat since taking the Hull job. Meanwhile, Burton enjoyed a stroke of luck as they earned a 2-1 win at Reading courtesy of Tom Naylor’s winner that came as the ball cannoned off him as he charged down a Liam Moore clearance in the 81st minute, and there were 1-1 draws between Preston and Nottingham Forest and QPR and Bristol City, who beat Manchester United in midweek.
- In Saturday’s late game, Sheffield United recovered from conceding two early goals at Aston Villa to rescue a 2-2 draw. An Albert Adomah penalty and a Mile Jedinak goal had got Villa off to a flyer in under 10 minutes but two goals from Clayton Donaldson before half-time mean that Villa and United remain on exactly the same points, Villa just edging a sixth-place play-off spot on goal difference.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wolverhampton | 23 | 26 | 54 |
| 2 | Cardiff | 23 | 15 | 47 |
| 3 | Derby | 23 | 17 | 44 |
| 4 | Bristol City | 23 | 13 | 44 |
| 5 | Leeds | 23 | 9 | 39 |
Results: Aston Villa 2-2 Sheffield United, Bolton 2-0 Cardiff, Derby 3-0 Millwall, Fulham 2-1 Barnsley, Leeds 1-0 Hull, Preston 1-1 Nottingham Forest, QPR 1-1 Bristol City, Reading 1-2 Burton Albion, Sheffield Wednesday 1-2 Middlesbrough, Sunderland 1-1 Birmingham, Wolverhampton 1-0 Ipswich.
League One
- Struggling Rochdale welcomed back Joe Thompson as a second-half substitute as they drew 1-1 with Walsall at Spotland. It was the 28-year-old’s first appearance since March, after recovering from cancer for a second time.
- At the top of the table Wigan recorded a record 7-0 win against Oxford United at the Kassam Stadium with Will Grigg scoring a hat-trick in a sumptuous display that took the Latics four points clear of Shrewsbury, who beat Portsmouth 2-0. Blackburn lost ground on the top two as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Northampton, while Scunthorpe moved up to fourth, two points behind Rovers, after coming from behind to secure a 3-1 home win against Southend.
- AFC Wimbledon moved to within a point of safety after a surprise 2-1 win over fifth-placed Bradford City. Cody McDonald poked Wimbledon into a seventh-minute lead after a calamitous mix-up between Adam Thompson and City goalkeeper Rouven Sattelmaier. Bradford equalised just after half-time but another Sattelmaier howler from a Lyle Taylor shot gifted the Dons their first league win at home in over two months.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wigan | 22 | 37 | 51 |
| 2 | Shrewsbury | 22 | 16 | 47 |
| 3 | Blackburn | 22 | 20 | 44 |
| 4 | Scunthorpe | 23 | 13 | 42 |
| 5 | Bradford | 23 | 8 | 42 |
Results: AFC Wimbledon 2-1 Bradford, Bristol Rovers 0-1 Doncaster, Charlton 1-1 Blackpool, Northampton 1-1 Blackburn, Oxford 0-7 Wigan, Peterborough 3-0 Bury, Plymouth 4-1 Oldham, Rochdale 1-1 Walsall, Rotherham 2-2 MK Dons, Scunthorpe 3-1 Southend, Shrewsbury 2-0 Portsmouth.
League Two
- Notts County came back from 3-0 down against Cambridge United to draw 3-3 and preserve their unbeaten home record, thanks to Jonathan Forte’s 93rd-minute equaliser. Cambridge had gone into the game without an away goal in over 11 hours but an opener from Uche Ikpeazu and two goals from Jevani Brown after half-time gave the visitors a seemingly unassailable lead. Things changed on 74 minutes when Lewis Alessandra scored for County, before Shaun Brisley reduced the deficit to one with three minutes to go and Forte forced the equaliser late into added time.
- County’s draw did mean the leaders Luton Town were able to pull four points clear after their 2-0 win over Grimsby Town. Exeter’s shock 3-1 loss to Yeovil Town means they retain their automatic promotion spot by just one point after fourth-placed Coventry beat Wycombe Wanderers 3-2 in a thrilling match on Friday night.
- Elsewhere, Mansfield are just one point outside the play-off places after a 2-1 win over Morecambe, while Accrington slipped to seventh after a 3-2 home defeat to Crawley. There are only four points that separate third to 11th. At the bottom, it’s as you were: Barnet, Chesterfield and Forest Green Rovers all lost.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Luton | 23 | 34 | 48 |
| 2 | Notts County | 23 | 15 | 44 |
| 3 | Exeter | 23 | 3 | 39 |
| 4 | Coventry | 23 | 9 | 38 |
| 5 | Wycombe | 23 | 9 | 37 |
Results: Accrington 2-3 Crawley, Barnet 0-2 Cheltenham, Colchester 1-1 Port Vale, Crewe 0-3 Swindon, Forest Green 0-1 Carlisle, Luton 2-0 Grimsby, Mansfield 2-1 Morecambe, Newport 0-0 Lincoln City, Notts County 3-3 Cambridge, Stevenage 5-1 Chesterfield, Yeovil 3-1 Exeter.
