EFL goals and round-up: Burnley, Sheffield United win; Middlesbrough lose at West Brom
Runaway Championship leaders Burnley thumped Huddersfield 4-0, while second-place Sheffield United extended the gap between themselves and Middlesbrough to seven points. League One leaders Sheffield Wednesday win as Plymouth are beaten. League Two leaders Leyton Orient are held.
Sunday 26 February 2023 11:23, UK
Burnley maintained their 12-point lead at the top of the Sky Bet Championship with a dominant 4-0 victory over struggling Huddersfield.
Vincent Kompany's impressive side were 3-0 up at half-time with goals from Ashley Barnes, Connor Roberts and Josh Brownhill.
Michael Obafemi's strike in the second half meant a miserable trip back over the Pennines for Neil Warnock's men.
Sheffield United, who had lost their last two league games, secured a much-needed 1-0 victory over Watford at Bramall Lane to stay in second place thanks to a Ryan Porteous own-goal.
Middlesbrough's five-match winning run came to an end with a 2-0 defeat at West Brom.
Two early first-half strikes from Daryl Dike were enough for Carlos Corberan's play-off chasing side to secure the three points.
Gareth Ainsworth's first game in charge of QPR ended in defeat, with Blackburn running out 3-1 winners at Loftus Road.
Sam Gallagher put the visitors in front after 14 minutes, with QPR hitting back quickly through Tim Iroegbunam.
Sammie Szmodics put Blackburn ahead in first-half stoppage time, with Gallagher making sure of the points in the second half.
Millwall remained firmly in the play-off hunt with a slender 1-0 victory at Stoke, thanks to Zian Flemming's first-half strike.
Blackpool remain at the foot of the league, losing 3-1 at Reading. Two goals against his former club from Tom Ince and an Andy Carroll penalty made it an easy afternoon for the home side, with Sonny Carey scoring a late consolation.
Birmingham's losing run continued, with visitors Luton taking all three points thanks to Carlton Morris' second-half goal.
Bristol City also won 1-0, at home to Hull, thanks to Nahki Wells' penalty after 70 minutes. Norwich saw off Cardiff 2-0 at Carrow Road, Gabriel Sara and Marquinhos with the goals.
Preston, on a run of four league games without a win, beat visitors Wigan 2-1. Wigan went ahead with a Greg Cunningham own goal, but a Daniel Johnson penalty in the second half and a Tom Cannon strike ensured a much-needed victory.
In the early kick-off, Viktor Gyokeres marked his 100th Coventry appearance with the winning goal as the Sky Blues beat Sunderland 2-1 at the CBS Arena. The Sweden international met Matt Godden's cross in the closing stages.
Gyokeres had earlier teed up Jamie Allen to set Coventry on their way before Manchester United loanee Amad Diallo grabbed a goal back for the visitors deep into stoppage time.
Swansea host Rotherham on Monday night.
Sky Bet League One
Promotion contenders Plymouth lost ground on Sky Bet League One leaders Sheffield Wednesday after suffering a 5-2 defeat in a seven-goal thriller against Peterborough.
Peterborough scored in quick succession when leading League One goalscorer Jonson Clarke-Harris scored from the penalty spot and Hector Kyprianou doubled their advantage three minutes later, but the Pilgrims pulled one back through Saxon Earley.
Posh restored their two-goal cushion after half-time through Harrison Burrows, but it was short-lived after Macaulay Gillesphey scored and the comeback looked to be on, but Clarke-Harris completed his brace before Jack Taylor's goal put the game to bed.
The result means Wednesday are now three points clear at the top of the league after Liam Palmer's early goal proved the difference to beat Charlton 1-0.
Third-placed Ipswich are also putting pressure on the Pilgrims with only five points separating them after Sam Morsy's first-half goal gave them a 1-0 win against MK Dons.
A Devante Cole double made it four straight league wins for Barnsley as they beat promotion rivals Derby 4-1.
After Cole put the Tykes ahead, Adam Phillips doubled their lead but the Rams quickly pulled one back through David McGoldrick.
Cole then earned his brace just before the break and Luke Thomas scored in stoppage-time for Barnsley to leapfrog Derby in the table, moving into fifth.
They now sit just behind Bolton, who came from behind to beat Port Vale 2-1.
Ellis Harrison's opener was cancelled out by Victor Adeboyejo, but Josh Sheehan put Wanderers back in front with the eventual winner.
Matt Bloomfield's first game in charge at Wycombe ended in defeat as Shrewsbury returned to winning ways with a 2-0 result.
Long-serving manager Gareth Ainsworth departed for QPR earlier in the week and the Chairboys fell behind following Jordan Willis' own goal before Rekeil Pyke stabbed home a second for the Shrews.
Portsmouth secured a 4-0 win against relegation-threatened Cheltenham after goals from Ryan Tunnicliffe, Michael Jacobs and Ronan Curtis gave them a three-goal advantage in the opening half-hour, while Louis Thompson capped the afternoon off with a stoppage-time strike.
Kevin McDonald scored his first goal since 2018 as Exeter beat strugglers Cambridge 2-0.
Archie Collins put the Grecians in front before McDonald, who underwent a kidney transplant in May 2021, doubled their lead, eight minutes after the break.
Bristol Rovers earned their first win in eight games after goals from Scott Sinclair, Aaron Collins and Luca Hoole secured a 3-0 victory over struggling Oxford.
Carlos Mendes Gomes' first-half goal was the difference for Fleetwood to make it back-to-back victories with a 1-0 win against local rivals Morecambe.
Jordan Garrick earned a point for bottom-of-the-table Forest Green to draw 1-1 with Lincoln after cancelling out Ben House's goal, while Burton's clash with Accrington finished goalless.
Sky Bet League Two
Leyton Orient remained on course for promotion after an entertaining 2-2 draw with Grimsby as Salford gave their own chances a boost with a 5-2 away win at Mansfield in Sky Bet League Two.
Lawrence Vigouroux made a crucial late penalty save for Orient to secure a point, after George Moncur had scored a 68th-minute leveller.
Charlie Kelman had opened the scoring for the visitors, before hosts Grimsby struck twice in seven minutes through John McAtee and George Lloyd.
At Mansfield, Salford scored two goals in three minutes in the first half through Matty Lund and Callum Hendry, before the home side hit back through Davis Keillor-Dunn.
In the second half, Lund, Luke Bolton and Theo Vassell made it 5-1 to Salford, before Mansfield's Jordan Bowery grabbed a late consolation goal.
Carlisle strengthened their promotion hopes with a 5-2 away victory at Crawley, who remain second bottom following a third successive defeat.
Joel Senior, Omari Patrick, Owen Moxon and Morgan Feeney had put Carlisle 4-0 up at the break after a dominant display.
In the second half, Aramide Oteh scored for Crawley, but the four-goal advantage was soon restored by Jon Mellish before Dom Telford hit a late consolation goal for the home side.
Two late goals earned Hartlepool an unlikely 3-3 home draw with Walsall.
Tom Knowles and Isaac Hutchinson had given Walsall a 2-0 lead inside 50 minutes, but Daniel Kemp pulled one back for the home side with a 56th-minute penalty.
Walsall made it 3-1 through Mathew Stevens, but in stoppage-time, Kemp and Connor Jennings struck within a minute of each other to secure a late draw for Pools.
Stevenage's poor run of form continued as they lost grip of second place in League Two, with Josh Hawkes' penalty securing a 1-0 win for Tranmere at the Lamex Stadium.
Louis Appere scored the only goal of the game as Northampton secured their first win in five matches following a hard-fought 1-0 victory at Colchester.
Sutton ensured they did not drop points in the race for the play-off places, following a 2-0 win at Newport, with Coby Rowe and Alistair Smith scoring in each half.
Rushian Hepburn-Murphy scored his first league goals for Swindon as they ran out 3-0 winners against Harrogate.
Hepburn-Murphy put his side ahead in the eighth minute, then struck again five minutes before half-time, with Joe Tomlinson wrapping up victory for the hosts.
Cheye Alexander scored the winner against his former club as Gillingham came from behind to beat AFC Wimbledon 2-1 at Priestfield.
Ali Al-Hamadi put AFC Wimbledon in front, but his goal was cancelled out by Max Ehmer, before Alexander's 66th-minute winner, leaving the Dons with just one win from nine matches.
Andy Cook's second-half header was enough for Bradford to claim all three points in a 1-0 win at Doncaster.
Jimmy Keohane rescued a point for Rochdale with a late leveller against 10-man Crewe, cancelling out Rio Adebisi's headed goal, before Connor O'Riordan was sent off for a second yellow card offence.
Josh Kay scored the only goal of the game as Barrow beat Stockport 1-0.
