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In the Championship – Brighton off the bottom
It went anything but to form though and a goal eleven minutes from time for Paul McShane was enough to give Brighton all three points for the first time away from home although Palace came close to a last minute leveller from Clinton Morrison that was harshly ruled out because of an offside.
That meant Millwall were back on the bottom after they went down to the heaviest defeat of the week, 4-0 at home to Sheffield United for whom Danny Webber scored twice. Webber had only scored one goal previously this season but Millwall had no answer to him and his team mates and fell to defeat for the first time since early September.
The result extended Sheffield United’s lead at the top of the league as second place Reading could only draw at Hull City. They had to come from behind too to get a point after Chris Brown, on loan from Sunderland, scored his first goal for Hull. The equaliser we would have called a rarity at one time, a header from Glen Little, but this is his second headed goal of the season out of three in total.
Glen wasn’t the only former Burnley player to scored a Championship goal on Tuesday either. Robbie Blake might have turned in a diving boots style performance at the Turf last Saturday but he was in fine form at Elland Road as Leeds beat Southampton 2-1. He was involved in the first, scored the second and then hit the woodwork from a free kick.
It wasn’t Blake who demanded everyone’s attention as Southampton’s drawing run came to an end just short of breaking the record, that was saved for Saints striker Theo Walcott who was making his debut. He’s not 17 until March of next year but in his first league start he scored once and could have easily had a couple more in an exciting debut. To suggest he has blistering pace is an understatement.
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You have to feel sorry for Preston, they never concede a proper goal and again the demented dwarf like figure Billy Davies in the dug out was going ballistic at just about anything. This time he’s complained about both Cardiff goals and suggested that the free kicks that led to the goals should not have been allowed.
Funnily enough Davies made no comment on the clear handball from Chris Lucketti in the build up to their stoppage time equaliser from Chris Sedgwick that was somehow missed by referee Howard Webb.
Mind you that was nothing compared to the handball missed by Nigel Miller at the Windy City as Crewe looked set to take the lead against Stoke. The goal bound effort from Luke Varney was cleared off the line by defender Marlon Broomes who somehow managed to extend his arm far enough to deflect it away.
Obviously it was a red card and a penalty, well it was to all but Miller who allowed play to continue, claiming not to have seen it, and needless to say within just a few minutes Stoke had gone down the other end and taken the lead.
That goal was a first Stoke goal for record signing Sambegou Bangoura and there was to be no way back for the unfortunate Crewe. Michael Duberry doubled the lead but then found himself sent off for an elbow in the last minute of the game.
Ipswich looked to be coasting to victory when Nicky Forster found himself with a simple chance in the last minute of the first half. They were already 2-0 with goals from Darren Currie and Jimmy Juan, but Forster failed to convert and within a minute Gary McSheffrey had pulled one back for Coventry. It all proved costly and Coventry earned themselves a draw when Lilian Nalis, on loan from Sheffield United, headed in early in the second half.
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It was 1-1 too in our remaining two matches. Chris Brunt put Sheffield Wednesday in front at home to Watford for whom Ashley Young equalised late in the game and at Wolves they had to settle for a point against Derby.
Poor Wolves are really feeling sorry for themselves right now as they continue to fail to win home games. Kenny Miller gave them the lead with a superb goal and again, as they did against us a couple of weeks ago, they failed to make the most of some good opportunities.
And it cost them again as Derby came back to equalise through Mounir El Hamdaoui, the Dutch midfielder currently on loan from Spurs. That’s two draws and two defeats in the last four home games for Wolves who remain in sixth place in the table.
The weekend fixtures get underway at Leeds when they take on Sheffield United at Elland Road in front of the Sky cameras on Friday and that is a meeting of the one time Sheffield United management team of Neil Warnock and Kevin Blackwell, that is if Dennis Wise hasn’t taken over at Leeds by then.
The full weekend fixtures are below.
The Midweek Results | |
Tuesday 18th October | |
Cardiff 2 Preston 2 | Luton 4 Norwich 2 |
Crystal Palace 0 Brighton 1 | Millwall 0 Sheffield Utd 4 |
Hull 1 Reading 1 | QPR 1 Plymouth 1 |
Ipswich 2 Coventry 2 | Sheffield Wed 1 Watford 1 |
Leeds 2 Southampton 1 | Stoke 2 Crewe 0 |
Leicester 0 Burnley 1 | Wolves 1 Derby 1 |
The Midweek Stats | |
Biggest win | Sheffield Utd 4-0 v Millwall (away) |
Total goals scored | 33 |
Player scoring most goals | 2 - Danny Webber (Sheffield Utd) |
Highest Attendance | 23,326 - Leicester v Burnley |
Lowest Attendance | 9,148 - Millwall v Sheffield Utd |
Total Yellow Cards | 33 |
Total Red Cards | 2 |
Most cards in a game | Sheffield Wed v Watford (5Y) |
The leading scorers (league only) | |
9 | Carl Cort (Wolves) |
8 | Rob Hulse (Leeds) |
7 | Cameron Jerome (Cardiff) Steven Kabba (Sheffield Utd) Ashley Young (Watford) |
6 | Ade Akinbiyi (Burnley) Dean Ashton (Norwich) Steve Howard (Luton) Andy Johnson (Crystal Palace) Marlon King (Watford) Garreth O'Connor (Burnley) |
5 | Dele Adebola (Coventry) Inigo Idiakez (Derby) Leroy Lita (Reading) Clinton Morrison (Crystal Palace) Neil Shipperley (Sheffield Utd) |
4 | Morten Bisgaard (Derby) Ahmet Brkovic (Luton) David Connolly (Leicester) Mark de Vries (Leicester) Kevin Doyle (Reading) David Healy (Leeds) Darius Henderson (Watford) Kenny Miller (Wolves) Dean Morgan (Luton) Dave Nugent (Reading) Sam Parkin (Ipswich) |
Disciplinary Record (all games) | |||||
| Club | Y | R | Club | Y | R |
| Brighton | 25 | 0 | Millwall | 28 | 4 |
| Burnley | 23 | 2 | Norwich | 23 | 2 |
| Cardiff | 25 | 0 | Plymouth | 26 | 0 |
| Coventry | 31 | 3 | Preston | 26 | 2 |
| Crewe | 13 | 0 | QPR | 33 | 4 |
| Crystal Palace | 28 | 0 | Reading | 16 | 0 |
| Derby | 27 | 2 | Sheffield Utd | 23 | 0 |
| Hull | 16 | 2 | Sheffield Wed | 21 | 1 |
| Ipswich | 22 | 3 | Southampton | 31 | 2 |
| Leeds | 22 | 1 | Stoke | 21 | 4 |
| Leicester | 29 | 1 | Watford | 25 | 1 |
| Luton | 20 | 1 | Wolves | 16 | 0 |
The Weekend Fixtures | |
Friday 21st October | |
Leeds v Sheffield Utd | . |
Saturday 22nd October | |
Cardiff v Crewe | Millwall v Southampton |
Crystal Palace v Burnley | QPR v Norwich |
Hull v Derby | Stoke v Reading |
Ipswich v Watford | Wolves v Preston |
Luton v Plymouth | . |
Sunday 23rd October | |
Leicester v Coventry | . |
Monday 24th October | |
Sheffield Wed v Brighton | . |