It's Round and It's White
Liam O’Connor rounds up the action from matchday ten of the Championship.
There was a goal frenzy at Selhurst Park on matchday ten of the Championship, where Crystal Palace came from two goals down to beat Burnley 4-3 and stretch their unbeaten run to seven matches. Palace got off to the worst possible start, finding themselves 2-0 down in the opening half an hour, courtesy of goals from Chris McCann and Martin Paterson’s clever finish. Wilfried Zaha pulled a goal back before the break, then he bagged an equaliser on 53 minutes to score his fourth goal in two games. Damien Delaney then put the Eagles ahead after the hour, before Glenn Murray ensured the win with his 75th minute strike.
Two second-half goals from Heidar Helguson made sure that Cardiff stayed top of the Championship after coming from behind to beat struggling Ipswich 2-1 at Portman Road. There was controversy surrounding Ipswich’s goal right on the stroke of half-time, as loan signing DJ Campbell put the ball in with his hand, however the goal stood to Cardiff’s disbelief. Helguson then pounced on a Scott Loach mistake to level the scores, before scoring the winner two minutes from time at the far post.
Blackpool suffered their third defeat in four games as Charlton recorded a shock 2-0 win at Bloomfield Road. Leon Cort headed the visitors infront with 49 minutes on the clock following a Dale Stephen’s corner. Another defender got himself on the scoresheet for the Addicks, this time a thumping 20-yard strike from Chris Solly which earnt Charlton three valuable points on their travels.
Darius Henderson’s 90th minute goal ensured Millwall moved out of the bottom three, beating Bolton 2-1 and recording their first league win in six games. Henderson put the Lions into a 17th minute lead, his shot taking a deflection on it’s way past Adam Bogdan. Chris Eagles then levelled from a free-kick, but after being fouled in the area just short of the hour, Eagles sent his spot-kick flying over the bar. Henderson then struck a late winner, scoring his fourth goal in three games to pile more pressure on Bolton manager Owen Coyle.
Leicester City remained second in the Championship after they earnt a comfortable 2-0 at home to Bristol City. David Nugent opened the scoring inside the opening 20 minutes, cooly slotting the ball past Tom Heaton. The second goal didn’t arrive until the 74th minute, Richard Foster heading the ball into his own net following Andy King’s cross as the Foxes still remain unbeaten at home, winning all five matches.
Watford had to play with ten men for their second successive game as they were defeated at home by Middlesbrough 2-1. The home side did however take a very early lead. Matej Vydra picked up Andre Bikey’s backpass and fired it at Jason Steele, but he could only parry it into the path of Troy Deeney who slotted home after just one minute. Marvin Emnes equalised with a close-range header before Vydra was sent off for Watford, the referee insisted that he stamped on Nicky Bailey. Middlesbrough made sure their man advantage counted, Scott McDonald scoring the winner in the 77th minute.
Luciano Becchio’s first-half penalty was the difference as Leeds came out ontop in the Yorkshire derby at Elland Road against Barnsley. Referee Darren Deadman awarded the penalty when the incident appeared to happen outside the area, but Becchio stepped up and earnt his side victory. Nottingham Forest picked up their first away win of the season against bottom of the table Peterborough, who are yet to win at London Road in the league this season. Andy Reid got the only goal of the game, he fired a powerful shot into the top corner from the edge of the area.
Blackburn’s first home game since Steve Kean’s departure wasn’t a memorable one, with Wolves earning a narrow 1-0 win in a tight encounter. Bakary Sako’s Wolves career has started off brilliantly thus far, and he continued that on Saturday as his 25-yard curler found the far corner to push Stale Solbakken’s side up to third in the Championship.
Sheffield Wednesday’s dreadful run continued as an injury-plagued Hull City side came away from Hillsborough with a 1-0 victory. The visitors could only name six substitutes for this fixture after suffering a flurry of injuries recently. One of those substitutes was Aaron McLean, he came off the bench to bag the winner for Hull in the last 15 minutes. Wednesday have now failed to win any of their last eight matches, and as a result have slipped into the relegation zone.
Lee Clark faced his former club on Saturday, who heaped more misery on the underfire Birmingham boss as Huddersfield came away from St. Andrews with a 1-0 win. Jermaine Beckford netted the only goal of the game, sweeping in James Vaughan’s cross to move the Terriers back into the play-off places. The only 0-0 draw of the weekend in the Championship came at Pride Park, with Derby and Brighton playing out a goalless encounter, with the latter now without a win in three games.
