But that's exactly what happened in a midweek that saw Southampton pull further away at the top of the league. They won a tough game at Hull and I'm sure they thought they'd need to do that to keep top spot with seemingly unbeatable reading going to Peterborough.
It was not to be as Reading, having gone a goal up, fell to a 3-1 defeat to leave Southampton five points clear at the top of the league. Reading still hold a two point lead over West Ham who drew yet again, a fourth successive draw, at home to Middlesbrough who equalised late in the game.
Portsmouth were also surprising winners. They had picked up just three points from nine games going into their home game against Birmingham who are pushing for a top six place. Brum took an early lead but then uncharacteristically collapsed in the second half with four goals to secure a win that closes the gap to five points on fourth from bottom.
Now, we talk about second half collapses, but the goal avalanche at Elland Road takes some believing. Leeds took an early lead with Forest replying almost immediately then right on half time Forest went in front.
1-2 at half time, but within a quarter of an hour of the restart it was 3-5 and incredibly Forest went on to win the game 7-3. I can't think a Steve Cotterill side has ever scored so many goals in an away game and it is more than I've ever seen Burnley score in an away league game in all my years of watching the Clarets.
Garath McCleary got four of them and he matches Nikola Zigic of Birmingham who also got four earlier in the season. Where did he score his four? At Elland Road against Leeds with three of them coming in a seven minute burst.
The results over the two days have seen us slip to 16th in the table, our lowest placing since the end of November.
The results, stats, leading goalscorers, each club's disciplinary record, the highest and lowest attendances and the next fixtures are all below.
The Week's Results | |
Tuesday 20th March | |
Brighton & Hove Albion 2 Derby County 0 | Leeds United 3 Nottingham Forest 7 |
Bristol City 0 Watford 2 | Peterborough United 3 Reading 1 |
Crystal Palace 1 Barnsley 0 | Portsmouth 4 Birmingham City 1 |
Doncaster Rovers 0 Millwall 3 | West Ham United 1 Middlesbrough 1 |
Hull City 0 Southampton 2 | |
Wednesday 21st March | |
Blackpool 3 Leicester City 3 | Ipswich Town 1 Burnley 0 |
Cardiff City 2 Coventry City 2 |
The Week's Stats | |
Biggest Win | Nottingham Forest 7-3 v Leeds United (away) |
Total Goals Scored | 42 (20 home - 22 away) |
Player Scoring Most Goals |
4 - Garath McCleary (Nottingham Forest) |
Highest Attendance | 27,250 - West Ham United v Middlesbrough |
Lowest Attendance | 6,717 - Peterborough United v Reading |
Total Yellow Cards | 27 |
Total Red Cards | 3 |
Most Cards in a Game | Bristol City v Watford (5Y 1R) Ref: Oliver Langford |
Leading Goalscorers (League Only) | |
24 | Rickie Lambert (Southampton) - includes 9 penalties |
15 | Darius Henderson (Millwall) - includes 2 penalties Ross McCormack (Leeds United) Kevin Phillips (Blackpool) Jay Rodriguez (Burnley) - includes 3 penalties |
13 |
Michael Chopra (Ipswich Town) |
13 |
Robert Snodgrass (Leeds United) - includes 2 penalties |
12 |
Marlon King (Birmingham City) - includes 2 penalties |
11 |
Craig Davies (Barnsley) - includes 1 penalty |
10 | Charlie Austin (Burnley) Ashley Barnes (Brighton & Hove Albion) - includes 3 penalties Luciano Becchio (Leeds United) Guly Do Prado (Southampton) Lukas Jutkiewicz (Middllesbrough) - includes 1 penalty - (9 with Coventry City) Robert Koren (Hull City) Adam Lallana (Southampton) Paul Taylor (Peterborough United) Chris Wood (Bristol City) - (9 with Birmingham City) Nikola Zigic (Birmingham City) |
Hat Tricks | |
Date | Player & Game |
20/08/11 | 3: Lee Tomlin - PETERBOROUGH UNITED v Ipswich Town |
10/09/11 | 3: Rickie Lambert - SOUTHAMPTON v Nottingham Forest |
11/09/11 | 3: Chris Wood - BIRMINGHAM CITY v Millwall |
12/10/11 | 3: Darius Henderson - Leicester City v MILLWALL |
02/11/11 | 3: Jonjo Shelvey - Leeds United v BLACKPOOL |
19/11/11 | 3: Rickie Lambert - SOUTHAMPTON v Brighton & Hove Albion |
26/12/11 | 3: Matthew Phillips - Barnsley v BLACKPOOL |
31/12/11 | 3: Ricardo Vaz Te - BARNSLEY v Leeds United |
21/01/12 | 3: Darius Henderson - Barnsley v MILLWALL |
31/01/12 | 4: Nikola Zigic - Leeds United v BIRMINGHAM CITY |
26/02/12 | 3: Rickie Lambert - Watford v SOUTHAMPTON |
17/03/12 | 3: Rickie Lambert - Millwall v SOUTHAMPTON |
20/03/12 | 4: Garath McCleary - Leeds United v NOTTINGHAM FOREST |
Disciplinary Record (League and Cup) | |||||||||
Club | Y | R | Y | R | Club | Y | R | Y | R |
League | Total | League | Total | ||||||
Barnsley | 50 | 1 | 53 | 1 | Ipswich Town | 49 | 5 | 50 | 5 |
Birmingham City | 50 | 3 | 55 | 3 | Leeds United | 60 | 5 | 66 | 5 |
Blackpool | 48 | 1 | 51 | 2 | Leicester City | 54 | 8 | 62 | 8 |
Brighton and Hove Albion | 77 | 7 | 91 | 7 | Middlesbrough | 63 | 7 | 66 | 7 |
Bristol City | 71 | 5 | 73 | 5 | Millwall | 64 | 2 | 71 | 2 |
Burnley | 53 | 2 | 61 | 2 | Nottingham Forest | 51 | 4 | 56 | 4 |
Cardiff City | 46 | 0 | 62 | 0 | Peterborough United | 43 | 2 | 46 | 2 |
Coventry City | 46 | 2 | 48 | 2 | Portsmouth | 61 | 4 | 68 | 4 |
Crystal Palace | 47 | 2 | 51 | 3 | Reading | 52 | 0 | 55 | 0 |
Derby County | 51 | 1 | 51 | 1 | Southampton | 45 | 4 | 48 | 4 |
Doncaster Rovers | 58 | 2 | 60 | 2 | Watford | 55 | 2 | 57 | 2 |
Hull City | 56 | 1 | 61 | 1 | West Ham United | 54 | 6 | 57 | 7 |
Highest and Lowest Attendances | |||
Highest | Lowest | ||
Att | Fixture | Att | Fixture |
34,936 | West Ham United v Coventry City (02/01) | 6,351 | Peterborough United v Cardiff City (18/10) |
34,900 | West Ham United v Crystal Palace (25/02) | 6,392 | Peterborough United v Millwall (06/03) |
34,749 | West Ham United v Barnsley (17/12) | 6,717 | Peterborough United v Reading (20/03) |
34,650 | West Ham United v Doncaster Rovers (10/03) | 7,004 | Peterborough United v Bristol City (18/02) |
33,465 | West Ham United v Portsmouth (10/09) | 7,540 | Peterborough United v Blackpool (10/03) |
33,366 | Leeds United v West Ham United (17/03) | 7,555 | Peterborough United v Portsmouth (28/01) |
33,010 | Derby County v Southampton (15/10) | 7,572 | Doncaster Rovers v Millwall (20/03) |
33,010 | Derby County v Leeds United (26/12) | 7,650 | Doncaster Rovers v Watford (26/11) |
33,010 | Derby County v Nottingham Forest (17/03) | 7,778 | Doncaster Rovers v Bristol City (27/08) |
32,875 | West Ham United v Southampton (14/02) | 7,901 | Peterborough United v Burnley (17/09) |
The Next Fixtures | |
Saturday 24th March | |
Barnsley v Peterborough United | Millwall v Leeds United |
Burnley v West Ham United | Nottingham Forest v Brighton & Hove Albion |
Coventry City v Portsmouth | Reading v Blackpool |
Derby County v Crystal Palace | Southampton v Doncaster Rovers |
Leicester City v Hull City | Watford v Ipswich Town |
Middlesbrough v Bristol City | |
Sunday 25th March | |
Birmingham City v Cardiff City (12:00) |