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Coventry, like us, suffered that first defeat on the road, going down 3-1 at Millwall and they, like us, ended the game with ten men. For them though it was unfortunate and it looks as though referee Jon Moss has totally misread the situation as he gave Carl Baker a second yellow for kicking the ball away. Baker was only been on the pitch for fourteen minutes as a substitute, getting those cards in double quick time.
Watford, the other first time losers, were beaten 1-0 at home against Leeds. Simon Grayson hinted at a less than pleasing style to Watford's play while Malky Mackay hinted at a less than pleasing style to Leeds' play. I bet that was a classic.
Reading won the tea time televised game at Leicester but were hanging on in the end. Matt Mills proved to be the hero, first he headed what proved to be the winner and then he somehow got his head to a Steve Howard header on the line to prevent Leicester getting a point.
Sheffield United had started the day in bottom place, but that's not the case now after they beat Preston 1-0 at Bramall Lane. And what a goal it was from debutant Jean Calve who had only signed this week from AS Nancy. It was a stunning strike from distance and incredibly it was his first ever goal in professional football after well over a hundred games.
He was immediately substituted after his goal celebration brought on cramp. What on earth he did during the celebration is anyone's guess. Blades' new boss Gary Speed expects him to be fit for the next game, as he does the other debutant Stephen Jordan who is still waiting to celebrate his first goal in professional football.
That Calve goal could well have been the goal of the day but there were certainly two other contenders. Lloyd Dyer's strike for Leicester was up there with Calve's effort but for me it was Adam Hammill's goal for Barnsley, their second against Middlesbrough.
It was a fantastic solo effort by Hammill who picked the ball up a good twelve yards inside his own box and went on a run down the left hand side of the pitch. Middlesbrough couldn't even foul him as he shrugged off the challenges before finishing.
Performance of the day? Perhaps David James of Bristol City. He has a new haircut, one that is slightly more sensible than the previous one, but it did him no favours and he was badly at fault with both Ipswich goals.
Ipswich are third now behind leaders QPR and Cardiff, all on ten points, QPR scoring twice in stoppage time yesterday to rescue a point at Derby.
Bottom are Portsmouth, and I'm delighted to see that. How on earth that club is still around is difficult to believe and I'd love to see them go down again.
The week's stats are below along with the leading goalscorers in the league (or anyone with two or more), each club's disciplinary record and the next set of fixtures for two week's time.
The Week's Results | |
Saturday 28th August | |
Barnsley 2 Middlesbrough 0 | Nottingham Forest 1 Norwich 1 |
Derby 2 QPR 2 | Portsmouth 0 Cardiff 2 |
Doncaster 3 Hull 1 | Scunthorpe 3 Crystal Palace 0 |
Ipswich 2 Bristol City 0 | Sheffield United 1 Preston 0 |
Leicester 1 Reading 2 | Swansea 1 Burnley 0 |
Millwall 3 Coventry 1 | Watford 0 Leeds 1 |
The Week's Stats | |
Biggest win | Scunthorpe 3-0 v Crystal Palace (home) |
Total goals scored | 29 (19 home - 10 away) |
Player scoring most goals | 2 - Jonathan Forte (Scunthorpe) |
Highest Attendance | 25,874 - Derby v QPR |
Lowest Attendance | 5,292 - Scunthorpe v Crystal Palace |
Total Yellow Cards | 28 |
Total Red Cards | 3 |
Most cards in a game | Swansea v Burnley (6Y 2R) - Steve Tanner |
The leading scorers (league only) | |
4 | Jay Bothroyd (Cardiff) |
3 | Jamie Mackie (QPR) Steve Morison (Millwall) - includes 1 penalty |
2 | Dexter Blackstock (Nottingham Forest) - includes 1 penalty Chris Burke (Cardiff) Kris Commons (Derby) - includes 1 penalty Andrew Crofts (Norwich) Freddy Eastwood Coventry) John Eustace (Watford) Jonathan Forte (Scunthorpe) Danny Graham (Watford) Andy Gray (Barnsley) - includes 1 penalty Adam Hammill (Barnsley) Heidar Helguson (QPR) Chris Iwelumo (Burnley) Lukas Jutkiewicz (Coventry) - includes 1 penalty Tamas Priskin (Watford) Lloyd Sam (Leeds) Bill Sharp (Doncaster) - includes 2 penalties Gylif Siggurdsson (Reading) Davide Somma (Leeds) Adel Taarabt (QPR) - includes 2 penalties Liam Trotter (Millwall) |
Disciplinary Record (all domestic games) | |||||
| Club | Y | R | Club | Y | R |
| Barnsley | 8 | 0 | Middlesbrough | 10 | 0 |
| Bristol City | 7 | 1 | Millwall | 4 | 1 |
| Burnley | 11 | 2 | Norwich | 3 | 0 |
| Cardiff | 2 | 0 | Nottingham Forest | 9 | 0 |
| Coventry | 7 | 1 | Portsmouth | 7 | 0 |
| Crystal Palace | 7 | 2 | Preston | 13 | 0 |
| Derby | 8 | 0 | QPR | 8 | 0 |
| Doncaster | 5 | 1 | Reading | 6 | 0 |
| Hull | 9 | 0 | Scunthorpe | 6 | 1 |
| Ipswich | 9 | 1 | Sheffield United | 7 | 1 |
| Leeds | 8 | 0 | Swansea | 9 | 1 |
| Leicester | 5 | 0 | Watford | 5 | 0 |
The Next Fixtures | |
Saturday 11th September | |
Burnley v Preston (17:15) | Nottingham Forest v Millwall |
Cardiff v Hull | Portsmouth v Ipswich |
Coventry v Leicester (12:30) | QPR v Middlesbrough |
Derby v Sheffield United (13:00) | Reading v Crystal Palace |
Leeds v Swansea | Scunthorpe v Bristol City |
Nowich v Barnsley | Watford v Doncaster |