EFL goals and round-up: Leicester & Ipswich march on | Leeds win
Championship: Pacesetters Leicester and Ipswich win again on Saturday, Leeds also triumph | League One: Oxford and Portsmouth win | League Two: Leaders Notts County held at Barrow.
Saturday 7 October 2023 18:11, UK
Leaders Leicester registered their sixth Sky Bet Championship victory in a row as Enzo Maresca's men saw off Stoke 2-0 at the King Power Stadium.
Kelechi Iheanacho put the Foxes in front in the 24th minute and Jamie Vardy added a finish with 11 minutes of normal time remaining.
Leicester maintained their two-point lead at the top over Ipswich, who are eight clear of the play-off spots after defeating third-placed Preston 4-2 at Portman Road.
The Tractor Boys were 3-1 up at the break via goals from Conor Chaplin, Brandon Williams and, following Mads Frokjaer-Jensen's reply, Nathan Broadhead.
Ben Whiteman pulled another goal back for the visitors early in the second half before Kayden Jackson wrapped things up for Ipswich.
In the lunchtime kick-off, fourth-placed Sunderland were thrashed 4-0 at home by derby rivals Middlesbrough after having Dan Neil sent off in first-half stoppage time when the match was still goalless.
Boro ran riot after the break as Sam Greenwood, Matt Crooks, Isaiah Jones and Marcus Forss all got on the scoresheet.
Leeds moved up a place to fifth with a 2-1 home win over Bristol City sealed by Joel Piroe's finish.
Piroe restored the hosts' lead in the 53rd minute after Dan James' opener had been cancelled out by Kal Naismith.
Blackburn ended their four-match losing streak in emphatic fashion as they won 4-0 against QPR at Loftus Road, where Tyrhys Dolan and Sammie Szmodics scored either side of an Arnor Sigurdsson double.
The result put Jon Dahl Tomasson's Rovers five points clear of 22nd-placed Rangers.
Valerien Ismael's Watford are two points above the relegation zone after halting their run of three successive losses by drawing 1-1 at Cardiff, Vakoun Bayo levelling for the Hornets nine minutes after the break after Mark McGuinness' first-half opener.
Rock-bottom Sheffield Wednesday, in their first game since sacking Xisco Munoz on Wednesday, earned a third point of the campaign as the Yorkshire derby at home against Huddersfield - managed by ex-Owls boss Darren Moore - ended goalless.
Second-bottom Rotherham also drew, Jordan Hugill's equaliser securing a 1-1 draw at Southampton, for whom Stuart Armstrong had scored in the second minute.
Norwich were held to a 1-1 draw at Coventry following a late Ben Gibson own goal - the Canaries had led through Jon Rowe's 41st-minute effort.
Hull also had to settle for a point, drawing 2-2 at Millwall. The Tigers led after replying to Duncan Watmore's eighth-minute goal via Jaden Philogene and Adama Traore, before Joe Bryan brought things back level early in the second half.
Both Norwich and Hull, along with Cardiff and Southampton, are a point behind the final play-off place, currently occupied by Birmingham.
Saturday's other game saw Swansea come from behind to win 3-1 at Plymouth.
The home side led at the interval courtesy of Luke Cundle but the game then turned around with Jerry Yates, Oliver Cooper and Josh Key scoring for the Swans.
Sky Bet League One
Colby Bishop hit a double as Portsmouth remained top of Sky Bet League One following a 2-0 win over Port Vale at Fratton Park.
Bishop diverted Joe Rafferty's shot into the net to open the scoring after 53 minutes before wrapping up a fifth straight victory from the spot four minutes later.
Oxford kept pace after a 2-1 win over Bristol Rovers in a game that saw three players sent off.
Billy Bodin and Sam Long had Oxford 2-0 up either side of Jevani Brown's red card for the Pirates before Aaron Collins pulled one back.
The U's then had Oisin Smyth and Stan Mills dismissed in stoppage time.
Aaron Pressley scored his second goal of the season to earn Stevenage a 1-0 win over Wigan - in a game which saw two red cards - while Peterborough stretched their unbeaten run to six games after beating Lincoln 2-0.
Jordan Gibson scored a hat-trick as Carlisle came from behind to beat Bolton 3-1 and Rob Street got Cheltenham's first goal of the season at the 11th attempt in a 1-1 draw with Derby.
Dale Taylor's double, Freddie Potts and Luke Leahy secured a 4-1 win for Wycombe at Fleetwood.
George Moncur's 90th-minute strike gave Leyton Orient a 2-1 win over Reading at Brisbane Road.
Elsewhere, there were wins for Barnsley, who won 1-0 at Exeter, and Shrewsbury, beating Northampton 1-0, while the match between Charlton and Blackpool ended in a 2-2 draw.
Sky Bet League Two
Notts County remain top of League Two despite being held to a 1-1 draw at Barrow.
David McGoldrick put them ahead from the spot in the 14th minute before Dean Campbell rescued a point for Barrow with a penalty of his own 10 minutes from time.
Stockport moved to within one point of County after a late Tanto Olaofe winner secured a narrow 1-0 triumph over Doncaster.
Macauley Bonne and Scott Malone scored the goals as managerless Gillingham beat MK Dons 2-1 to claim their first win in four games.
Mansfield and Wimbledon played out a 0-0 draw and Ollie Palmer's third goal of the season gave 10-player Wrexham their first win in four games with a hard-fought 1-0 victory at Crawley.
Wrexham were reduced to 10 in the 66th minute when substitute Andy Cannon, who had only been on the field for seven minutes, received a straight red card for a lunging tackle on Adam Campbell.
Salford came from behind to beat Crewe 4-2 and record a third straight win.
Two goals from Matt Smith and one each from substitutes Ryan Watson and Kevin Berkoe turned the game around after Courtney Baker-Richardson had put Crewe ahead.
JJ McKiernan's fine hat-trick helped 10-player Morecambe claim an impressive 3-1 win at Colchester and there were also victories for Accrington, Harrogate and Sutton, who beat Forest Green, Newport and Walsall respectively.
Tranmere and Grimsby played out a 2-2 draw.
