The game at Pride Park looked to have been the game of the day. Norwich were 2-0 within 13 minutes, meaning Derby had conceded four goals in just around 25 minutes play with our two goals last week.
Derby pulled one back very quickly through Kris Commons but the talking points were two penalty shouts, one for each side, neither of which were given by referee Keith Stroud. They both looked good shouts to me but Norwich boss Paul Simpson couldn't do too much about it has he'd been banished to the stands for his recent querying of referee Michael Oliver.
If they were penalties then the one Ipswich could have had a few minutes from time in their home game against Swansea was as bang to rights a spot kick as you'll ever see. Swansea had dominated the first half hour without creating anything but Ipswich had stormed back and created a good few chances, taking one of them.
Two horrible defensive mistakes saw them fall behind but then came the spot kick as Carlos Edwards went down. Referee Andy D'Urso incredibly waved play on and exactly 31 seconds later Swansea had got a second. This time Roy Keane didn't lead a charge at D'Urso.
Coventry's win against Middlesbrough was a game of penalties. Leroy Lita took one for 'Boro and saw it saved before former Middlesbrough striker Marlon King converted one for Coventry. It was his first goal since he scored for Middlesbrough 18 months ago and was enough to give the Sky Blues all three points.
Leeds came from behind to beat Crystal Palace with two Luciano Becchio goals whilst down at Watford it was a Danny Graham goal that finally won it for the home side. It was only his second goal since September and another striker ending a lean streak was Steve Morison who scored two for Millwall against a woeful Scunthorpe side for whom Kevin McDonald played the last few minutes.
The one remaining game surprisingly ended in an unlikely point for bottom club Preston. They led Cardiff 1-0 for a long time in this game before conceding an equaliser in the fourth minute of stoppage time.
Leeds are back in the top six at the expense of Derby but it is much the same as before although Swansea have now reduced the gap on second place Cardiff to one point.
Hopefully the weather will relent during the next few days and allow us a full programme next week. This week's results and stats are below along with the league's leading scorers, each club's disciplinary record and the next fixtures.
The Weekend Results | |
Saturday 4th December | |
Cardiff 1 Preston 1 | Leeds 2 Crystal Palace 1 |
Coventry 1 Middlesbrough 0 | Millwall 3 Scunthorpe 0 |
Derby 1 Norwich 2 | Nottingham Forest v Bristol City - PP |
Doncaster v Barnsley - PP | Portsmouth v Burnley - PP |
Hull v QPR - PP | Sheffield United v Reading - PP |
Ipswich 1 Swansea 3 | Watford 3 Leicester 2 |
The Weekend Stats | |
Biggest win | Millwall 3-0 v Scunthorpe (home) |
Total goals scored | 21 (12 home - 9 away) |
Player scoring most goals | Craig Beattie (Swansea) |
Highest Attendance | 26,134 - Derby v Norwich |
Lowest Attendance | 8,937 - Millwall v Scunthorpe |
Total Yellow Cards | 27 |
Total Red Cards | 0 |
Most cards in a game | Derby v Norwich (7Y) - Keith Stroud |
The leading scorers (league only) | |
13 | Jay Bothroyd (Cardiff) |
11 | Kris Commons (Derby) - includes 2 penalties |
10 | Luciano Becchio (Leeds) |
9 | Chris Iwelumo (Burnley) Lewis McGugan (Nottingham Forest) - includes 1 penalty Adel Taarabt (QPR) - includes 4 penalties |
8 | Danny Graham (Watford) Andy King (Leicester) Jamie Mackie (QPR) Steve Morison (Millwall) - includes 1 penalty Scott Sinclair (Swansea) |
7 | Andy Hammill (Barnsley) Grant Holt (Norwich) Jon Parkin (Preston) |
6 | James Coppinger (Doncaster) James Hayter (Doncaster) Liam Lawrence (Portsmouth) - includes 4 penalties Billy Sharp (Doncaster) - includes 3 penalties Davide Somma (Leeds) Marvin Sordell (Watford) Jonathan Stead (Bristol City) |
Hat Tricks (league only) | |
11th Sep | 3 - Chris Iwelumo - BURNLEY v Preston |
14th Sep | 3 - James Coppinger - DONCASTER v Norwich |
14th Sep | 3 - James Vaughan - CRYSTAL PALACE v Portsmouth |
28th Sep | 3 - Jon Parkin - Leeds v PRESTON |
30th Oct | 3 - Jonny Howson - Scunthorpe v LEEDS |
13th Nov | 3 - Luciano Becchio - LEEDS v Bristol City |
27th Nov | 3 - Grant Holt - NORWICH v Leeds |
Disciplinary Record (all domestic games) | |||||
Club | Y | R | Club | Y | R |
Barnsley | 31 | 0 | Middlesbrough | 31 | 1 |
Bristol City | 21 | 1 | Millwall | 30 | 2 |
Burnley | 39 | 4 | Norwich | 32 | 2 |
Cardiff | 25 | 1 | Nottingham Forest | 28 | 0 |
Coventry | 33 | 1 | Portsmouth | 31 | 3 |
Crystal Palace | 32 | 5 | Preston | 47 | 5 |
Derby | 34 | 1 | QPR | 32 | 2 |
Doncaster | 25 | 1 | Reading | 34 | 3 |
Hull | 35 | 1 | Scunthorpe | 22 | 1 |
Ipswich | 34 | 3 | Sheffield United | 25 | 4 |
Leeds | 38 | 2 | Swansea | 43 | 1 |
Leicester | 23 | 2 | Watford | 23 | 0 |
The Next Fixtures | |
Friday 10th December | |
QPR v Watford | Swansea v Millwall |
Saturday 11th December | |
Barnsley v Sheffield United | Middlesbrough v Cardiff |
Bristol City v Derby | Norwich v Portsmouth |
Burnley v Leeds | Preston v Ipswich |
Crystal Palace v Hull (17:20) | Reading v Coventry |
Leicester v Doncaster | Scunthorpe v Nottingham Forest |