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Leeds taking on West Brom at Elland Road in the Sky Bet Championship
Leeds taking on West Brom at Elland Road in the Sky Bet Championship

Sky Bet Championship match highlights & reports: Leeds back to the top after beating West Brom, Forest held at Blackburn

By Sporting Life
Football
Wed October 02, 2019 · 5y ago

A review of Tuesday's action in the Sky Bet Championship

Sky Bet Championship results

Leeds 1-0 West Brom

Leeds ended West Brom's unbeaten run with a hard-fought 1-0 win at Elland Road to go to the top of the Sky Bet Championship after Nottingham Forest were held at Blackburn.

Ezgjan Alioski scored the only goal of the game shortly before the break with a brilliantly crafted team goal - working the ball from back to front and slipping it into Jack Harrison in the box.

It looked as though Harrison had dithered for too long but he just managed to lay it off to Alioski whose driven shot from the left-hand side of the box took a slight deflection off Kyle Bartley on its way into the net.

Albion looked dangerous throughout as both sides had chances, but despite some dodgy moments late on, Leeds held on for just a second home win of the season, while also ending Slaven Bilic's unbeaten record as Baggies boss.

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Blackburn 1-1 Nottingham Forest

Nottingham Forest extended their unbeaten run in the Sky Bet Championship to nine games as they battled to a 1-1 draw against Blackburn at Ewood Park.

Chances were few and far between in a disjointed first half but the game sprung to life after the break, with Adam Armstrong's opener for Rovers cancelled out two minutes later by Joe Lolley.

The visitors could have returned to the Championship summit with victory had results elsewhere gone their way, but in the end were grateful for a point as the home side finished strongly.

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Stoke 0-1 Huddersfield

Juninho Bacuna's late winner heaped the pressure on under-fire Stoke manager Nathan Jones as his misfiring team were beaten 1-0 at home to fellow Sky Bet Championship strugglers Huddersfield.

Substitute Bacuna pounced in the 82nd minute to fire home for his first goal since March.

And his effort proved enough to secure Huddersfield their first away league win since November 2018.

However, defeat for Stoke sees Jones' failing side rooted to the basement of the Championship and put his position as manager under more strain.

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Reading 1-4 Fulham

Fulham extended their unbeaten Sky Bet Championship run to five matches with a comfortable 4-1 victory over 10-man Reading.

Captain Tom Cairney gave Fulham an early lead before Reading lost midfielder John Swift to a red card after 20 minutes.

Top marksman Aleksandar Mitrovic stretched the Fulham advantage to 3-0 before the half-hour mark.

He pounced twice from close range to take his tally for the season to seven.

Cairney added his second goal, his fifth of the term, in the 67th minute after an error by home goalkeeper Rafael.

Yakou Meite thumped home a 20-yard shot for Reading one minute from time but Fulham won at a canter.

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Middlesbrough 1-1 Preston

Preston missed out on a chance to climb into the Championship's top two after Middlesbrough hit back to claim a 1-1 draw at the Riverside.

Boro, closer to the relegation zone than they are to the top six, were the better team for much of the game but couldn't make the most of the chances they created.

And it was Preston, during their best spell of the first half, who opened the scoring when Josh Harrop tapped in from close range in the 40th minute.

The lead lasted less than two minutes because North End full-back Darnell Fisher could only turn Paddy McNair's low cross inside his own net to level things up - and that was how it remained.

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Hull 1-0 Sheffield Wednesday

Tom Eaves came off the bench to earn Hull a 1-0 win with his first goal for the club and halt Garry Monk's unbeaten start to life as Sheffield Wednesday manager.

Monk had picked up seven points from his first three Sky Bet Championship games in charge, with a Carabao Cup defeat to Everton the only blemish on his record.

But he was dealt a first league loss in the Wednesday hot seat on Tuesday night, as Eaves clinched the three points for the hosts with a superb 72nd-minute header, having come on for Josh Magennis six minutes earlier.

The visitors had arguably had the better of the chances prior to that point, with Barry Bannan testing goalkeeper George Long inside the first few minutes and Sam Winnall heading wide when he should have done better early in the second half.

The result is a first home win since August 10 for the Tigers, who climbed to 12th, three points behind Wednesday.

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Wigan 1-0 Birmingham

A late howler from goalkeeper Lee Camp proved costly as Wigan secured a nervy 1-0 victory against Birmingham.

Anthony Pilkington's rather fortunate strike condemned Blues to a third straight defeat.

Latics moved up the table thanks to a third Sky Bet Championship win of the campaign.

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