Only West Ham, and then just briefly twice, have kept Southampton off the top of the league since mid-September, but they trailed 2-1 at Millwall as Reading were coasting to a 4-0 win at Barnsley and had the scores remained at that then Reading would have led the table by a point.
That all changed when Essex referee Fred Graham awarded Southampton two late penalties, both converted by Rickie Lambert, to give them a 3-2 win. Millwall were far from happy with the awards and I have some real sympathy with the second when it looked as though a Southampton player handled the ball and not a Millwall player.
That doesn't bother the league's leading goalscorer Lambert. He's netted 24 now, of which 9 are penalties, and it is his fourth hat trick. That's the most league goals from one player in the Championship since Sylvan Ebanks-Blake scored 25 for Wolves three years ago and Lambert will surely pass that.
It's not a good time for Millwall; their leading goalscorer Darius Henderson has other worries as he faces a grievous bodily harm charge in the summer following an incident in a restaurant in the early hours of New Year's Day which left a 41-year-old man with a broken jaw.
One thing for certain, surely, now is that the two automatic promotion places will come from the top three. Southampton have 72 points, Reading 70 and West Ham, who have a game behind, have 67 points which is eight points clear of Birmingham in fourth place.
West Ham and Birmingham are currently joined in the play off positions with Blackpool and Middlesbrough, Blackpool coming from behind to beat Brighton to claim their place. Brighton are now one of three teams, with Hull City and Cardiff City, who are just a point outside the top six.
At the other end of the table, three of the bottom four claimed draws with Doncaster Rovers, at home to Derby County, the only losers. Bristol City's point took them level with Nottingham Forest who were without a game because of Leicester City's FA Cup tie at Chelsea.
Below are the results from the last week along with the stats, the leading goalscorers, each club's disciplinary record, the highest and lowest attendances and the midweek fixtures.
The Week's Results | |
Tuesday 13th March | |
Cardiff City 0 Hull City 3 | Doncaster Rovers 1 Reading 1 |
Derby County 1 Nottingham Forest 0 | Leicester City 3 Birmingham City 1 |
Saturday 17th March | |
Barnsley 0 Reading 4 | Ipswich Town 3 Peterborough United 2 |
Birmingham City 3 Middlesbrough 0 | Leeds United 1 West Ham United 1 |
Blackpool 3 Brighton & Hove Albion 1 | Millwall 2 Southampton 3 |
Crystal Palace 0 Hull City 0 | Portsmouth 0 Bristol City 0 |
Doncaster Rovers 1 Derby County 2 | Watford 0 Coventry City 0 |
Sunday 18th March | |
Cardiff City 0 Burnley 0 |
The Week's Stats | |
Biggest Win | Reading 4-0 v Barnsley (away) |
Total Goals Scored | 36 (18 home - 18 away) |
Player Scoring Most Goals |
3 - Rickie Lambert (Southampton) |
Highest Attendance | 33,366 - Leeds United v West Ham United |
Lowest Attendance | 8,287 - Doncaster Rovers v Reading |
Total Yellow Cards | 43 |
Total Red Cards | 2 |
Most Cards in a Game | Derby County v Nottingham Forest (6Y 1R) Ref: Andy D'Urso |
Leading Goalscorers (League Only) | |
24 | Rickie Lambert (Southampton) - includes 9 penalties |
15 | Ross McCormack (Leeds United) Jay Rodriguez (Burnley) - includes 3 penalties |
14 | Darius Henderson (Millwall) - includes 2 penalties |
13 | Michael Chopra (Ipswich Town) David Nugent (Leicester City) Kevin Phillips (Blackpool) |
12 |
Marlon King (Birmingham City) - includes 2 penalties |
11 |
Craig Davies (Barnsley) - includes 1 penalty |
10 | Charlie Austin (Burnley) Guly Do Prado (Southampton) Lukas Jutkiewicz (Middllesbrough) - includes 1 penalty - (9 with Coventry City) Robert Koren (Hull City) Adam Lallana (Southampton) Pete Whittingham (Cardiff City) - includes 3 penalties Chris Wood (Bristol City) - (9 with 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 |
19/03/12 | 3: Rickie Lambert - Millwall v SOUTHAMPTON |
Disciplinary Record (League and Cup) | |||||||||
Club | Y | R | Y | R | Club | Y | R | Y | R |
League | Total | League | Total | ||||||
Barnsley | 48 | 1 | 51 | 1 | Ipswich Town | 47 | 4 | 48 | 4 |
Birmingham City | 48 | 2 | 53 | 2 | Leeds United | 59 | 5 | 65 | 5 |
Blackpool | 46 | 1 | 49 | 2 | Leicester City | 52 | 8 | 60 | 8 |
Brighton and Hove Albion | 76 | 7 | 90 | 7 | Middlesbrough | 63 | 7 | 66 | 7 |
Bristol City | 68 | 4 | 70 | 4 | Millwall | 63 | 2 | 70 | 2 |
Burnley | 53 | 2 | 61 | 2 | Nottingham Forest | 50 | 4 | 55 | 4 |
Cardiff City | 45 | 0 | 61 | 0 | Peterborough United | 43 | 2 | 46 | 2 |
Coventry City | 46 | 2 | 48 | 2 | Portsmouth | 61 | 4 | 68 | 4 |
Crystal Palace | 45 | 2 | 49 | 3 | Reading | 52 | 0 | 55 | 0 |
Derby County | 48 | 1 | 48 | 1 | Southampton | 44 | 4 | 47 | 4 |
Doncaster Rovers | 57 | 2 | 59 | 2 | Watford | 53 | 2 | 55 | 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) | 7,004 | Peterborough United v Bristol City (18/02) |
34,650 | West Ham United v Doncaster Rovers (10/03) | 7,540 | Peterborough United v Blackpool (10/03) |
33,465 | West Ham United v Portsmouth (10/09) | 7,555 | Peterborough United v Portsmouth (28/01) |
33,366 | Leeds United v West Ham United (17/03) | 7,650 | Doncaster Rovers v Watford (26/11) |
33,010 | Derby County v Southampton (15/10) | 7,778 | Doncaster Rovers v Bristol City (27/08) |
33,010 | Derby County v Leeds United (26/12) | 7,901 | Peterborough United v Burnley (17/09) |
33,010 | Derby County v Nottingham Forest (17/03) | 7,928 | Peterborough United v Ipswich Town (20/08) |
32,875 | West Ham United v Southampton (14/02) | 8,062 | Peterborough United v Coventry City (17/12) |
The Next Fixtures | |
Tuesday 20th March | |
Brighton & Hove Albion v Derby County | Leeds United v Nottingham Forest |
Bristol City v Watford | Peterborough United v Reading |
Crystal Palace v Barnsley (20:00) | Portsmouth v Birmingham City |
Doncaster Rovers v Millwall | West Ham United v Middlesbrough |
Hull City v Southampton | |
Wednesday 21st March | |
Blackpool v Leicester City (20:00) | Ipswich Town v Burnley |
Cardiff City v Coventry City |