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In the Championship – Kabba and Blades on top
Kabba’s second came in stoppage time and is the fifth goal Sheffield United have scored in the extra period already this season. Some of those have helped secure those four points by which they lead the table.
Wade Elliott got a couple of goals for Burnley but he and Kabba were not the only ones to hit a brace. Leicester’s Mark de Vries scored twice in two minutes early in the game against Sheffield Wednesday with the game ending at 2-0. That doubles de Vries’ tally in 23 games since he joined the Foxes.
And what a week it has been for David Healy. He scored the winner for Northern Ireland that so embarrassed Sven Goran Eriksson and England and his goals helped Leeds to a point at home to Brighton.
They were two down when Healy finally struck with two goals in five minutes but they were chasing the game again when Healy’s former Preston team mate Sean Gregan turned a cross into his own goal.
Leeds’ point in the end came courtesy of Jonathan Douglas who latched onto a save from the keeper to score his first Leeds goal since signing from Blackburn on loan.
There was no luck for the clubs stuck in the bottom three. We’ve already referred to Wednesday’s 2-0 reverse at Leicester and managerless Plymouth suffered the same fate at Norwich, giving the Canaries their first win of the season.
The first goal was an unfortunate own goal from Matthias Doumbe and Dean Ashton completed the scoring. It could have been different for caretaker boss Jocky Scott, twice Paul Wotton was denied with strikes from distance, the first hitting the post and the second superbly saved by Robert Green.
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A goal down they came back with a strike from Don Hutchison, he and Ben May have scored all their goals with two each, but Preston went on to win it. Their total of four goals is not the worst in the league, that’s Sheffield Wednesday who have scored just twice.
Reading and Luton both had eyes on the top of the table before yesterday’s games. Any chance was ruled out with Sheffield United winning but in any case both of them failed to win.
Reading did go a goal up at Coventry through Kevin Doyle but the home side, unbeaten at their new stadium, earned themselves a point with a late goal from Robert Page. So Reading had to settle for a point but it should have been much better, Leroy Lita missed a penalty for them.
Luton had to come from behind at home to Wolves where the home manager was sent to the stand by referee Lee Probert for kicking the ball. Carl Cort had given Wolves the lead midway through the first half but Kevin Nicholls equalised with eleven minutes to go.
Adrian Boothroyd always said he was looking upwards and his Watford side are currently fourth following an excellent 3-0 win at Stoke. They were already two up when referee Nigel Miller (yes, Nigel Miller) ridiculously sent off the home goalkeeper Steve Simonsen, and they converted the resulting penalty to complete the scoring.
Crewe and Derby fought out a Sunday afternoon 1-1 draw but Crewe perhaps should have gone on and won it once Derby were somewhat unfortunately reduced to ten men. It makes a change though to see Derby on the wrong end of a dodgy red card.
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And at St Mary’s it was a case of the two Dannys. Firstly Danny Shittu gave QPR the lead but they were in front for just five minutes when Danny Higginbotham equalised for the Saints.
Three of the clubs in the division have been forced into making emergency loan signings since the transfer window closed. Southampton were first with the capture of Uruguayan midfielder Marcelo Tejera from Penarol.
Since then Hull and Norwich have both brought in forwards from the Premiership. Sunderland’s Chris Brown has joined Hull and Kevin Lisbie from Charlton has moved to Carrow Road.
We’ve got a full programme of midweek fixtures this week, they and next weekend’s games are shown below.
The Weekend Results | |
Saturday 10th September | |
Burnley 3 Cardiff 3 | Millwall 1 Preston 2 |
Crystal Palace 2 Hull 0 | Norwich 2 Plymouth 0 |
Coventry 1 Reading 1 | Sheffield Utd 2 Ipswich 0 |
Leeds 3 Brighton 3 | Southampton 1 QPR 1 |
Leicester 2 Sheffield Wed 0 | Stoke 0 Watford 3 |
Luton 1 Wolves 1 | . |
Sunday 11th September | |
Crewe 1 Derby 1 | . |
The Weekend Stats | |
Biggest win | Watford 3-0 v Stoke (away) |
Total goals scored | 34 |
Player scoring most goals | Mark de Vries (Leicester) |
Highest Attendance | 25,744 - Southampton v QPR |
Lowest Attendance | 5,958 - Crewe v Derby |
Total Yellow Cards | 48 |
Total Red Cards | 3 |
Most cards in a game | Millwall v Preston (7Y) |
The leading scorers (league only) | |
6 | Steve Kabba (Sheffield Utd) |
5 | Ade Akinbiyi (Burnley) Carl Cort (Wolves) Cameron Jerome (Cardiff) Andy Johnson (Crystal Palace) Marlon King (Watford) |
4 | Dean Ashton (Norwich) David Connolly (Leicester) David Healy (Leeds) Leroy Lita (Reading) Dave Nugent (Preston) |
3 | Dele Adebola (Coventry) Ahmet Brkovic (Luton) Mark de Vries (Leicester) Inigo Idiakez (Derby) Kevin Nicholls (Luton) Neil Shipperley (Sheffield Utd) Ashley Young (Watford) |
The Week's Fixtures | |
Tuesday 13th September | |
Brighton v Sheffield Utd | QPR v Luton |
Cardiff v Leicester | Reading v Crystal Palace |
Hull v Stoke | Sheffield Wed v Leeds |
Ipswich v Southampton | Watford v Norwich |
Plymouth v Crewe | Wolves v Millwall |
Preston v Burnley | . |
Wednesday 14th September | |
Derby v Coventry | . |
Friday 16th September | |
Preston v Stoke | . |
Saturday 17th September | |
Brighton v Coventry | Reading v Crewe |
Cardiff v Crystal Palace | Sheffield Wed v Millwall |
Hull v Luton | Watford v Sheffield Utd |
Plymouth v Burnley | Wolves v Leicester |
QPR v Leeds | . |
Sunday 18th September | |
Derby v Southampton | Ipswich v Norwich |