Coventry Caught Out Again and Leicester Misery Continues - Football Park's Championship Roundup

Coventry Caught Out Again and Leicester Misery Continues - Football Park's Championship Roundup

Gameweek 30 of the EFL Championship gave football fans exactly what they wanted. Unpredictability and drama.

26 goals were scored across the weekend's action, and Football Park is here to give you a breakdown of the matchday's events.

Away Day Success

Bristol City 0-5 Derby: Brewster (13'), Brereton (16'), Clark (36'), Agyemang (66'), Salvesen (88').

The weekend began in the West Country as Bristol City welcomed play-off-chasing Rams, who were looking for a win to replace the Robins in sixth place in the standings.

It was much a game of the hosts not turning up, as Derby had practically sealed the win before half-time. It didn't take long for John Eustace's side to take the lead; Rhian Brewster pummelled home a wonderful volley after latching on to a pinpoint cross from Callum Elder.

The visitors doubled their lead just three minutes later, this time through another ex-Sheffield United player in Ben Brereton Diaz following a horrible mistake by the home defence. It was then another clinical finish from the Rams, who shortly made it 3-0, with Bobby Clark finishing a clean counter-attack.

In the second period, Patrick Agyemang made it four before Lars-Jorgen Salvesen struck from close range to finish a five-star performance.

Leicester 0-2 Charlton: Carey (36'), Dykes (45'+4).

The Foxes' recent woes continued at the King Power, as they are now without a win in four matches. It took just 15 minutes for the awful afternoon to begin for Leicester, as Caleb Okoli was shown his marching orders after pulling back Miles Leaburn.

The Addicks looked to capitalise on this, and despite having 12 shots less than their hosts overall, they were able to keep composed and create some quality chances in the first period.

Charlton thought they had taken the lead shortly after, but Harry Clarke's header was disallowed for a foul by Leaburn - but shortly after, the visitors got in front. Clarke was again involved and whipped in a perfect delivery for Sonny Carey to slot home.

Just before the break, the Addicks seized another excellent opportunity; this time it was on-loan Lyndon Dykes who polished off a strong play, and Charlton picked up all three points. The victory moves them six points clear of the drop zone, while the Foxes slip further down the table.

Sheffield Wednesday 0-1 Wrexham: Smith (58').

The Welsh outfit travelled to Sheffield looking to earn yet another three points in their remarkable push for another promotion, and win they did.

A first half which was kept relatively quiet by the hosts soon unravelled just 15 minutes into the second half, and a goal by Sam Smith followed to put the visitors into a well-deserved lead following their complete dominance from the outset.

It is a sixth defeat on the spin for the league's bottom side, while Wrexham continue their push for the play-offs.

Stoke 0-2 Southampton: Azaz (10'), Downes (52').

It was all away victories in the 12:30 kick-offs in the country's second tier, as Southampton travelled to Stoke as they hoped to continue their second-half-of-the-season surge.

It was all Saints from the first whistle as they dominated the early stages of proceedings in search of an opening goal. It took Tonda Eckert's side all of 20 minutes to find that first quality chance of the fixture, which was finished off by Finn Azaz following an excellent cross whipped in by Tom Fellows.

The hosts duly started to wake up and get back into the game, creating some strong chances, including one rifling effort, which forced Southampton's on-loan 'keeper from Bayern Munich, Daniel Peretz, into a stunning one-hand save.

The visitors began the second period as they started the first and quickly bundled home another through Flynn Downes, who reacted quicker from a corner to give the south coast side all three points.

Blackburn 0-1 Hull: Koumas (81').

The away wins continued into the 3pm kick-offs, firstly at Ewood Park. Hull have found themselves in exhilarating form over recent weeks, and travelled to Blackburn hoping to not only make it four wins on the bounce but also to double down on their FA Cup victory over them earlier on this month.

This fixture was very similar to that of the cup clash, and it was a game that largely favoured the home side, with Blackburn looking much more likely to score after the visitors' great chance early on in the piece.

In a match that was just 10 minutes away from ending goalless, up stepped Lewis Koumas, who had just moved on loan to the Tigers from Liverpool this window, who broke the deadlock with nine minutes to go.

The victory sends Hull into an unprecedented third as they become the surprise package to start putting pressure on the top two.

Oxford 0-2 Birmingham: Peart-Harris (23' OG), Ducksch (66').

Two in-form teams met at The Kassam Stadium, as Oxford looked to make it four wins without a defeat and edge closer to getting a foot out of the relegation zone.

It didn't take long for Brum to find themselves a lead, despite the early pressure applied by the hosts, in a very fortunate manner, with Myles Peart-Harris converting a Paik Sung-Ho free-kick into his own net.

The U's looked to find a response to get themselves back into the game but struggled as Birmingham looked much more likely to double their lead. And after Jay Stansfield missed his opportunity, another one came minutes later, and this time Marvin Ducksch made no mistake.

Watford 0-2 Swansea: Stamenic (55'), Key (80').

The last of the away wins this weekend came at Vicarage Road, as Javi Gracia looked to avoid going four league games without a win, despite finding themselves in the play-off positions just weeks ago following an excellent end to 2025.

The Hornets buzzed early on with some decent chances as they looked to find an opener, but the score remained goalless heading into the break. Shortly after the players came out for the second half, the Swans soon found a lead of their own, courtesy of Marko Stamenic, who gladly obliged to poke the visitors into a crucial away lead.

Watford offered very little to get back into the game, and the visitors doubled their lead with 10 minutes still to play, with Josh Key on hand to tap home a second to earn Swansea a valuable three points. This turned out to be Gracia's last game in charge (again) for the Hornets, who will soon be looking for a replacement.

Huge Play-Off Implications

Ipswich 1-1 Preston: Clarke (90'+2 pen); Gibson (72').

With Hull in action against relegation-threatened Blackburn, it was vital that Ipswich earned all three points against play-off-chasing Preston if they wanted to remain in third. Things were looking bleak for the hosts with Preston in charge of most of the chances later in the game, and they were eventually rewarded through Lewis Gibson.

With Hull taking the lead in the 81st minute at Blackburn, Ipswich needed two to remain in third, but they wouldn't get their golden chance until stoppage time, when Jack Clarke would step up to convert an equaliser as the game ended goalless.

The dropped points from the Tractor Boys mean they drop to fourth, with Hull two points ahead and leaders Coventry eight.

Middlesbrough 1-0 Norwich: Hackney (17').

QPR 2-1 Coventry: Kone (66'), Madsen (73'); Eccles (53').

Both matches above also had a lot on the line. League leaders Coventry have found themselves in strife in recent weeks, not starting 2026 how they would have liked whatsoever.

Their lead was once 10 points but had been dragged down to three at the start of Saturday. Things didn't start well for them either, as Middlesbrough took the lead early at the Riverside as Hayden Hackney put the hosts in front thanks to a wonderful long-range effort to put his side within a point of the Sky Blues.

At half-time, the situation remained. Five games ago the gap between the top two was nine points; as it stood at the break, there was one. The Sky Blues needed a strong second half, and Frank Lampard's side started incredibly well, with Josh Eccles scoring that crucial go-ahead goal at Loftus Road.

It didn't take too long for the hosts to level in that clash, however, with Richard Kone making up for a missed opportunity in the first half to restore parity 13 minutes after the opener. Nicolas Madsen then piled on the pressure and gave the London side the lead and a vital three points, as they now sit four points off the play-off places.

Middlesbrough's score remained as Norwich also remained four points clear of the drop zone, but a game between the league's top two in two weeks' time is sure to be the biggest game of the season so far.

Millwall 1-1 Sheffield United: Ivanovic (19'); Brooks (17').

The Lions also played at home and welcomed Sheffield United to The Den as they looked to earn a win which would have meant they would go fourth in the table, but they only managed a draw against Chris Wilder's Blades.

The game seemed very exciting from the outset, and it didn't take long for an opener, as Andre Brooks' low-driven effort put them into the lead before Mihailo Ivanovic brought the game level just two minutes after.

This wasn't the end for good chances, as both sides missed opportunities to extend their goal count, but it wasn't to be, and the game ended 1-1. Millwall's draw does hold them back slightly, but they are now just eight points off the league leaders and just three off third-place Hull.

Delight for Pompey, Struggles Continue for Baggies

Portsmouth 3-0 West Brom Chaplin (20'), Alli (25'), Adams (49').

Lastly, a game towards the bottom of the Championship occurred at Fratton Park. Pompey were looking to return to winning ways after their draw in the South Coast derby last weekend, while West Brom looked for a first league win of 2026.

The game didn't start well for the Baggies at all, with Portsmouth applying the early pressure, and soon did they reap the rewards. First, Conor Chaplin positioned himself well to put the hosts in front, before Millenic Alli's smart finish through West Brom 'keeper Max O'Leary's legs made it 2-0 after just 25 minutes.

The hosts added a third to the count shortly after the break, with Ebou Adams scoring his second in as many games in the 49th minute to seal a comfortable victory as they leap the Baggies up to 20th. West Brom now sit precariously in 21st, just three points ahead of Blackburn.