Championship round-up: Mick McCarthy’s Cardiff suffer blow to play-off hopes after Forest defeat
Cardiff City manager Mick McCarthy after the defeat to Nottingham Forest. Photo credit: Nick Potts/PA Wire
Cardiff’s chances of breaking into the top six suffered a blow as Mick McCarthy’s side went down 1-0 at home to Nottingham Forest, who ended a six-match winless run thanks to James Garner’s first-half strike.
The on-loan Manchester United midfielder’s second goal of the season was enough to lift Chris Hughton’s Forest 10 points clear of the relegation zone.
Cardiff failed to back up their south Wales derby victory as they fell further behind in the race for the play-off places after Bournemouth’s victory over manager Jonathan Woodgate’s former club Middlesbrough moved them four points clear of the eighth-placed Bluebirds with a game in hand.
Philip Billing scored one and made another with Jefferson Lerma and Dominic Solanke also on target as the Cherries picked up their second league victory in a row, with Duncan Watmore having briefly put Boro back on level terms.
Further up the table, Watford strengthened their grip on an automatic promotion place with a controversial win over struggling Sheffield Wednesday.
An early own goal from Tom Lees was all that separated the sides, but the offside flag had been up when Lees tried to beat Isaac Success to Ismaila Sarr’s cross – only for the officials to determine that Success had not been interfering with play.
It was a bitter blow for the Owls, who were without manager Darren Moore after he tested positive for Covid-19. Wednesday are now six points adrift of safety.
In contrast, it was a sixth straight win for Watford, who closed the gap at the top to six points as Brad Potts’ stoppage-time strike saw Preston hold leaders Norwich to a 1-1 draw.
Emi Buendia had put Norwich ahead with a superb long-range effort but managerless North End replied in the fifth minute of time added on as Potts’ strike found the net.
Read More
Coventry could do nothing to pull themselves clear of trouble as they went down 3-0 at QPR, leaving them only four points clear of Rotherham who have three games in hand.
Rangers needed only 75 seconds to take the lead through Chris Willock, while Michael Rose’s own goal doubled their advantage before the break.
Ilias Chair made sure of the points with his eighth goal of the season midway through the second half.
Rotherham could have closed the gap further but saw Michael Smith’s late penalty saved by Bartosz Bialkowski as they lost 1-0 away to Millwall, having spent the late stages pushing for an equaliser despite playing most of the second half with 10 men.
A thunderbolt from Jed Wallace ultimately settled the contest at The Den, where the Millers had their captain Richard Wood sent off for pulling back Wallace when clean through.
Derby took a big step towards safety as they ended a seven-game winless run with a 2-0 victory over Luton.
Lee Gregory opened the scoring with seven minutes gone and Graeme Shinnie made sure with a penalty early in the second half.
There was also victory for basement side Wycombe – only their seventh of the season – as Fred Onyedinma’s goal was enough to see off Blackburn 1-0.
Nigel Pearson is still awaiting his first home win as Bristol City manager after goals in each half from Nick Powell and Steven Fletcher gave Stoke a 2-0 win at Ashton Gate.
Powell finished from close range in the 25th minute after Tommy Rowe mis-judged a long ball to allow Jacob Brown through, while Fletcher scored with a fine effort following a free-kick just after the hour.
PA Media
Related Content
Latest Other Soccer
- Dermot Desmond blasts ‘contemptible suggestion’ that he is not a Celtic supporter and insists shares not for sale
- Kieran Westwood returns for relegation-threatened Sheffield Wednesday but can’t prevent defeat to Norwich
- 'I don't regret it. I love it out here' - Jack Byrne has no regrets over Cyprus move and targets June return from surgery
- ‘It’s really good for his confidence’ – Norwich boss Daniel Farke hails Adam Idah’s goalscoring impact from bench
- 'Everyone's always striving for that one glorious season' – Chris Hughton determined to end Forest’s decades of underachievement
Most Read
- Celtic make move to bring in Eddie Howe as new manager
- Roy Keane storms to Tom Cleverley's house to confront him over alleged bust up - reports
- Championship round-up: Mick McCarthy’s Cardiff suffer blow to play-off hopes after Forest defeat
- 'I needed to be ahead of van Dijk's standard - he's not just the best centre back, he's the best player in the world'
- Dermot Desmond blasts ‘contemptible suggestion’ that he is not a Celtic supporter and insists shares not for sale
Latest
- Leinster through to Heineken Cup quarter-finals after Toulon walkover confirmed
- As Ireland changes up its vaccine rollout plan – here’s who other EU nations are prioritising
- Revealed: The calorie count of your Easter egg and how long it takes to burn off
- ‘It’s liable to change at the drop of a sixpence’ – Lions chair admits Covid has South African tour in ‘fluid’ position
- Coronavirus Ireland: eight further deaths and 591 new cases confirmed