EFL highlights and round-up: Fulham beaten; Sheffield United, Derby win
Championship leaders Fulham beaten 2-1 by Huddersfield on Saturday lunchtime; Sheffield United move into top six after beating Swansea 4-0; Louie Sibley hits stoppage-time winner for Derby against Peterborough; Also wins for Reading, Luton and Coventry
Saturday 19 February 2022 20:35, UK
Sky Bet Championship leaders Fulham suffered an unexpected 2-1 home defeat by Huddersfield, who boosted their own promotion hopes.
Bournemouth had seen Friday night's match against Nottingham Forest called off after Storm Eunice caused damage at the Vitality Stadium - and then Blackburn's clash with Millwall on Saturday was also postponed because of snowy
conditions.
The Cottagers, though, could not take advantage to extend their lead at the top of the table as Huddersfield struck twice in the first half.
Danny Ward put the Terriers ahead in the 31st minute before Duane Holmes doubled the lead from the penalty spot two minute before the break.
Bobby Decordova-Reid pulled a late goal back, but Fulham suffered a first league defeat since December 20.
QPR left it late to draw 1-1 at home against Hull and sit fourth, above Huddersfield on goal difference.
Marcus Forss, on loan from Brentford, fired the Tigers into the lead in the 26th minute.
There was a lengthy delay just after the hour when Hull goalkeeper Matt Ingram needed treatment following a collision with QPR's Albert Adomah and eventually was taken off on a stretcher.
Ilias Chair then struck from close range with 15 minutes left to secure QPR a point.
Sheffield United continued their push up the table after sweeping past Swansea 4-0 at Bramall Lane.
Morgan Gibbs-White broke the deadlock in the 14th minute and George Baldock soon added a second before Billy Sharp made it 3-0 shortly before half-time.
Gibbs-White bagged his second with 12 minutes left as the Blades moved into the top six.
Middlesbrough saw their play-off ambitions stall after losing 2-1 at Bristol City.
Andreas Weimann gave the hosts an early lead, with Antoine Semenyo wrapping up the points in the second half.
Matt Crooks scored a late consolation for Boro, who are seventh and a point behind Sheffield United.
West Brom also lost ground on the top six following a 2-0 defeat at Luton.
Cameron Jerome headed in from a 55th-minute free-kick and Allan Campbell wrapped up the points with seven minutes left.
At the other end of the table, Louie Sibley hit a stoppage-time winner as Derby beat relegation rivals Peterborough 1-0, with both sides finishing with 10 men.
Posh defender Hayden Coulson was sent off after picking up two cautions in the space of four minutes just after the half-hour mark.
Rams captain Tom Lawrence was dismissed for a foul on Nathan Thompson early in the second half, but Sibley had the final say.
Reading kept themselves five points clear of Derby after a 3-2 win at Preston - a first in the Championship since November.
However, following the match, the Royals confirmed manager Veljko Paunovic's contract had been terminated by mutual consent, with former England captain Paul Ince appointed to take charge on an interim basis.
Lucas Joao struck twice in the opening 19 minutes, with John Swift adding a third early in the second half.
Daniel Johnson pulled a goal back for the hosts, with Cameron Archer, on loan from Aston Villa, setting up a tense finale with 15 minutes to go but the Royals held out.
Bottom club Barnsley lost 1-0 at Coventry, where Dominic Hyam struck in the third minute of stoppage time.
Cardiff and Blackpool drew 1-1. Marvin Ekpiteta headed Blackpool into an 11th minute lead, but Joel Bagan had the home side level soon after the restart.
Stoke and Birmingham shared four goals at the bet365 Stadium. Jordan James put the Blues ahead in the 12th minute, with Tyrese Campbell equalising before half-time.
Campbell struck again seven minutes into the second half, but Gary Gardner squared things up again on the hour.
Sky Bet League One
Ten goals were not enough to separate Wycombe and Cheltenham in Sky Bet League One as they were forced to share the spoils from a frenetic 5-5 draw at Adams Park.
Alfie May scored four goals altogether, grabbing his first in the opening three minutes after lobbing goalkeeper David Stockdale.
Wycombe then scored three times in eight minutes to take the lead, with Jordan Obita scoring two before Brandon Hanlan added a third.
May got his second at the start of the second half with a headed effort and the Robins then levelled through Kion Etete.
Two quickfire goals from Sam Vokes within a minute of each other put the Chairboys back in the lead but May added two more to draw 5-5.
MK Dons stay third in the table with a 2-1 win against Sunderland.
Mo Eisa put the visitors in front but Ross Stewart quickly equalised for the Black Cats, scoring his 19th goal of the season.
Former Sunderland striker Connor Wickham found the winner for Dons and Sunderland now drop out of the play-off places into seventh. Oxford put four past struggling Charlton to move up into the play-off places.
Matty Taylor scored a brace in the first-half before Sam Baldock and Cameron Brannagan struck in the second half.
Sean Clare was shown a straight red card for the Addicks in the 62nd minute for a clash with Taylor.
Four was also the magic number for Bolton after goals from Jon Dadi Bodvarsson, Oladapo Afolayan, Dion Charles and Amadou Bakayou saw the Trotters beat Wimbledon 4-0.
Sheffield Wednesday came from behind to beat struggling Doncaster 3-1 in a Yorkshire derby. Rovers were awarded a penalty just before half-time and Dan Gardner scored from the spot.
Wednesday equalised through Callum Paterson and were awarded a penalty in the 76th minute, but Barry Bannan's effort was saved.
Saido Berahino put the Owls ahead two minutes later and Bannan added a third soon after for Wednesday to move up to eighth.
Ipswich made it three wins from five games with a 3-0 win against Burton.
Kayden Jackson opened the scoring in the first minute before Wes Burns and Bersant Celina both scored in the second half for the Tractor Boys.
Plymouth made it four consecutive wins after beating Gillingham 2-0. The Pilgrims opened their account one minute into the second half through Jordan Garrick and Luke Jephcott doubled the lead after scoring from the spot in the 75th minute.
Cambridge returned to winning ways with a 2-0 win against Accrington thanks to second-half strikes from Sam Smith and Wes Hoolahan.
Sky Bet League Two
George Miller's first-half strike handed new Walsall boss Michael Flynn a winning start as his side ended runaway leaders Forest Green's 19-game unbeaten run with a 1-0 win at The Fully Charged New Lawn.
Substitute Jamie Proctor scored a dramatic late equaliser to secure play-off hopefuls Port Vale a 1-1 draw at promotion-chasing Tranmere, who had taken the lead through Josh Hawkes five minutes before the break.
Bristol Rovers continued their push for the play-offs as they made it back-to-back wins with an emphatic 4-0 victory away at struggling Stevenage.
Sam Finley, Elliot Anderson, Harry Anderson and Aaron Collins all registered for Joey Barton's dominant visitors at a sodden Lamex Stadium.
Northampton moved back into the top three with a comfortable 3-0 victory over relegation-threatened Colchester.
Fraser Horsfall, Sam Hoskins and Benny Ashley-Seal were all on target and a 16th clean sheet of the season meant the three points were never in doubt.
Swindon moved into the top seven following a comfortable 3-0 win at struggling Carlisle.
Harry McKirdy scored his 13th league goal of the season in the first half before Josh Davison and Louie Barry added more after the interval.
Tom Crawford's first goal in a Hartlepool shirt earned a 1-1 draw against promotion hopefuls Sutton.
Joe Kizzi's early opener had put the Us on course for a first win in five to stay in touch with the top three, but Crawford struck five minutes after half-time to level things up.
Dom Telford's late penalty earned Newport a 1-1 draw with promotion rivals Mansfield at Rodney Parade.
Rochdale came from behind to earn their first victory of 2022 as they beat struggling Scunthorpe 2-1.
The bottom-of-the-table Iron had gone in front in the 13th minute when defender Manny Onariase scrambled home, only for second-half goals from Liam Kelly and Max Taylor to earn the visitors all three points.
Oldham's resurgence under John Sheridan continued with a 2-0 victory over managerless Bradford.
