Championship round-up

By Simon Fudge  

Championship round-up

Related links

Teams

Players

  • Steve Howard
  • Rudolf Skacel

Birmingham City missed the chance to go top of the Championship after a 4-3 defeat at Southampton.

In a thrilling game, it was Saints that got off to a great start on 14 minutes when Kenwyne Jones struck a left-footed shot into the top corner of Maik Taylor's goal.

Three minutes later, Jones made it two when he headed home Rudi Skacel's cross.

George Burley's side then made it three when Jones turned provider for Skacel on 19 minutes, as he set up the former Hearts man to drive a superb shot past Taylor.

It took until 68 minutes for Blues to respond through Cameron Jerome before the on-loan Nicklas Bendtner (72) made it 3-2 with a fine side-foot finish.

Saints substitute Bradley Wright-Phillips took just a minute to make it 4-2 on 78 minutes before Radhi Jaidi made the scoreline respectable with a third for Birmingham.

In Wednesday's other Championship game, Derby County moved level on points with Birmingham after a late 2-1 victory over ten-man Ipswich Town.

It was Ipswich that took the lead six minutes before the break when on-loan Gary Roberts struck a fine volley home from distance at Pride Park.

Steve Howard restored parity nine minutes after the break when he headed home Morten Bisgaard's corner from the right.

Ipswich were then reduced to ten men for the last half hour after Simon Walton was sent off for a second bookable offence after a late tackle on Derby's Michael Johnson.

The Rams made the man advantage pay dividends, as the on-loan Arturo Lupoli headed the winner home in injury time to delight the Derby faithful.

Click below for match summaries:
Derby County 2-1 Ipswich Town
Southampton 4-3 Birmingham City