Middlesbrough 0-0 Blackburn Rovers
Championship match report: Morgan Whittaker hit the post, while Hayden Hackney was extremely fortunate not to see red as Middlesbrough were held at home by Blackburn Rovers. Louise Taylor reports from the Riverside Stadium …
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Afcon round-up: Mohamed Salah scored a first-half penalty as 10-man Egypt defeated South Africa 1-0 in their Africa Cup of Nations Group B clash in Agadir to become the first team into the knockout stages of the competition. In today’s early -kick-off in Marrakesh, Angola and Zimbabwe shared the points in a 1-1 draw. Read on …
Championship relegation zone: With Sheffield Wednesday on -8 points and 30 from safety, we can probably write off their chances of escaping the drop but who will fall through the trapdoor with them? Oxford United’s win over Southampton lifted them out of the relegation zone, which is now occupied by Portsmouth, Norwich City and the embattled club from Hillsborough.
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Coventry City: Frank Lampard’s side move eight points clear of Middlesbrough in second place, with the more crucial gap to Ipswich in third now out to 13 points. Coventry had dropped seven points in their four games leading up to today’s win over Swansea, a state of affairs that can possibly be attributed to a debilitating dose of the flu that swept through their squad in recent weeks.
At the halfway point of the season, Coventry have 51 points and are looking good for automatic promotion to the top flight under a head coach I must confess I thought they were bonkers to appoint.
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Egypt 1-0 South Africa
Afcon group B: Mo Salah scored the only goal of the game to give Egypt their second win of the tournament and move them three point clear of South Africa at the top of Group B. Earlier this afternoon, Angola and Zimbabwe drew 1-1 to leave both sides with one point each going into their final group games.
Championship results
Birmingham City 1-1 Derby County
Millwall 0-0 Ipswich Town
Coventry City 1-0 Swansea City
Leicester City 1-2 Watford
Middlesbrough 0-0 Blackburn
Norwich City 1-0 Charlton Athletic
Oxford United 2-1 Southampton
Portsmouth 1-1 QPR
Sheffield Wednesday 2-2 Hull City
Stoke City 0-0 Preston
West Brom 1-2 Bristol City
Wrexham v Sheffield United (5.30pm GMT)
Championship: Somewhat fittingly, a Blackburn fan wearing a Grinch costume and a blue Father Christma hat is celebrating wildly at the Riverside Stadium having just sat through a dismal 0-0 draw between his side and Middlesbrough.
League One: Lincoln City have scored what should be a late, late winner from the penalty spot to go 2-1 up against Stockport County.
Oxford United beat Southampton: Oxford enjoy an interim manager bounce under Craig Short following the dismissal of Gary Rowett, taking the points thanks to a winner from Stan Mills, son of former England international Danny. They leapfrog Portsmouth, who drew at home with QPR, to climb out of the relegation zone.
Coventry win against Swansea City! They were hanging on at the death but Coventry City have taken all three points from their match against the Swans courtesy of Ephron Mason-Clark’s winner just before half-time.
League One: Joe Wright has just headed Bradford into a late 2-1 lead against Wigan Athletic, who are down to nine men having lost two players to red cards.
GOAL! West Brom 1-2 Bristol City (Diakite 85)
Championship: Ousmane Diakite provides some late hope for West Brom at the Hawthorns, where questions are being asked about Ryan Mason’s future (or apparent lack thereof) as manager of the Baggies.
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GOAL! Oxford United 2-1 Southampton (Mills 89)
Championship: Stan Mills fires relegation-threatened Oxford back in front at the Kassam Stadium.
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League One: There are goals galore in the third tier, where Mansfield Town have come from 2-0 down against Barnlsey to lead 3-2 and Burton lead Northampton 5-1 at the Pirelli Stadium. Jack Wilshere’s Luton are 4-0 up against Wycombe Wanderers, while Huddersfield lead Port Vale 5-0.
Middlesbrough 0-0 Blackburn: Hayden Hackney is exceptionally lucky to get no more than a booking for a bad-tempered boot at Taylor Gardner-Hickman that sends the Blackburn substitute cartwheeling through the air like an English batsman’s cricket stump at the MCG. Hackney made no attempt whatsoever to play the ball but somehow gets away with a booking.
Coventry City 1-0 Swansea City: Liam Cullen misses a glorious chance to equalise for Swansea City against the league leaders, connecting with a cross and volleying over the bar from a couple of yards out when scoring looked far easier.
GOAL! Sheffield Wednesday 2-2 Hull City (Crooks 65)
Championship: Hull equalise for a second time, with Matt Crooks pouncing on a rebound in the penalty area and firing beneath Sheffield Wednesday goalkeeper Pierce Charles.
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GOAL! Leicester City 1-2 Watford (Pollock 65)
Championship: Watford come from behind to lead through Mattie Pollock’s header past Leicester goalkeeper Jakub Stolarczyk, who came for a cross but didn’t get near the ball.
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GOAL! Norwich City 1-0 Charlton (Makama 61)
Championship: Enjoying a new, much-needed lease of life under Philippe Clement, Norwich go ahead through Jovon Makama, whose powerful shot on the turn makes it eight goals this season for the 21-year-old.
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GOAL! Sheffield Wednesday 2-1 Hull City (Cadamarteri 60)
Championship: Sheffield Wednesday go back in front against Hull City at Hillsborough with Bailey-Tye Cadarmarteri chesting down a pass from Barry Bannon in the penalty area before prodding the ball past Ivor Pandur.
GOAL! Portsmouth 1-1 QPR (Dunne 61)
Championship: Jimmy Dunne powers home a header at a corner to equalise for QPR against Portsmouth.
League One: Stockport equalise against Lincoln City, with Oliver Norwood having an effort saved from the penalty spot only for Jayden Fevrier to react quickest and score on the follow-up. At the Accu Stadium, Huddersfield now lead Port Vale 5-0.
League One: With second placed Lincoln winning at Stockport, league leaders Cardiff City have just gone one up against Exeter City courtesy of an Alex Robertson sidefooted effort from seven yards out. Elsewhere in League One, Huddersfield are 4-0 up against Port Vale at the Accu Stadium.
Coventry City 1-0 Swansea City: With one goal to his name already this afternoon, Ephron Mason-Clark goes close to doubling Coventry’s lead as his low drive from distance takes a deflection off a defender and fizzes a couple inches wide of the upright. In the Swansea goal, Lawrence Vigouroux was horribly wrongfooted.
Salah fires Egypt ahead against South Africa
Afcon: Egypt are down to 10 men after losing Mohamed Hany to a red card but just before he received his marching orders, Mo Salah scored his second goal of the tournament. The Liverpool winger converted from the penalty spot in the 45th minute to give his nation a 1-0 half-time lead in Agadir.
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Championship half-times
Birmingham City 1-1 Derby County (R)
Millwall 0-0 Ipswich Town (R)
Coventry City 1-0 Swansea City
Leicester City 1-1 Watford
Middlesbrough 0-0 Blackburn
Norwich City 0-0 Charlton Athletic
Oxford United 1-1 Southampton
Portsmouth 1-0 QPR
Sheffield Wednesday 1-1 Hull City
Stoke City 0-0 Preston
West Brom 0-2 Bristol City
Wrexham v Sheffield United (5.30pm GMT)
GOAL! Leicester City 1-1 Watford (Maamma 45)
Championship: Othmane Maamma equalises for Watford with a sublime curled effort off the outside of his left boot. That’s a delightful finish.
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GOAL! Portsmouth 1-0 QPR (Devlin 45)
Championship: QPR fail to clear a Portsmouth corner and Terry Devlin reacts quickest to volley the ball through traffic and into the bottom corner from 15 yards out.
GOAL! Coventry City 1-0 Swansea City (Mason-Clark 44)
Championship: Ephron Mason-Clark shoots on the turn and roofs the ball to give Coventry the lead. Moments previously, the runaway league leaders were denied by millimetres when an Ellis Simms header was clawed out by Swansea goalkeeper Lawrence Vigouroux. He performed miracles to prevent the ball crossing the line on that occasion but was powerless to keep Mason-Clark’s shot out.
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GOAL! Sheffield Wednesday 1-1 Hull City (Belloumi 37)
Championship: A massive 28 points from safety after various points deductions and still looking for their first home win of the season, Sheffield Wedneday have been pegged by Hull City, who equalise through Mohamed Belloumi. His first touch was superb, taking out a defender and his second to beat Pierce Charles was similarly sublime.
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Afcon: There’s no score in the Group B game between Egypt and South Africa with a little over 10 minutes to go until half-time. Mo Salah and Omar Marmoush are both in the Egypt side, while Burnley’s Lyle Foster is playing up front for South Africa.
GOAL! Oxford United 1-1 Southampton (Harwood-Bellis 29)
Championship: Taking advantage of some poor defending at a free-kick, a completely unmarked Taylor Harwood-Bellis nods home from eight yards out to restore parity for Southampton at the Kassam Stadium.
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League One: In the top-of-the-table clash at Edgeley Park, Reeco Hackett has given Lincoln City the lead in their game against Stockport County.
GOAL! West Brom 0-2 Bristol City (McRorie 22)
Championship: Ross McRorie doubles Bristol City’s lead, hammering the ball home from a narrow angle after running on to a ball across the penalty area slipped his way by Scott Twine.
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GOAL! Oxford United 1-0 Southampton (Goodrham 23)
Championship: Tyler Goodrham runs on to a Southampton clearance from a corner and smashes the ball past Gavin Bazunu to put Oxford United ahead in their match of the post-Gary Rowett era.
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GOAL! Sheffield Wednesday 1-0 Hull City (Ingelsson 21)
Championship: Svante Ingelsson runs in behind the Hull CIty defence to latch on to a long kick-out from Sheffield Wednesday goalkeeper Pierce Charles and fire past Ivan Pandur.
West Brom 0-1 Bristol City: Bristol City goalscorer Anis Mehmeti is somewhat fortunate to avoid a red card for what looked suspiciously like a deliberate forearm smash on Callum Styles that drew blood from the West Brom midfielder.
Leicester City 1-0 Watford: Mattie Pollock thinks he’s equalised for Watford with a bullet header from a corner but his effort is ruled out because one of his teammates was standing in front of Leicester goalkeeper Jakub Stolarczyk in an offside position.
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GOAL! Leicester City 1-0 Watford (James 7)
Championship: Jordan James shoots on the turn from distance to put Leicester in front with a low drive into the bottom corner. It’s his sixth goal of the season.
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GOAL! West Brom 0-1 Bristol City (Mehmeti 4)
Championship: Anis Mehmeti fires Bristol City in front at the Hawthorns with a low shot through traffic from outside the penalty area that finds its way into the bottom corner.
Stoke 0-0 Preston: Harrison Armstrong gets an early chance, shooting over the Stoke bar from distance after the ball sat up nicely for him.
Not long now: Your Boxing Day 3pm kick-offs are just seconds away …
Millwall 0-0 Ipswich Town
Championship: A fairly uneventful game in which both sides had their moments without ever threatening to win finishes all sqaure at the Den. Both sides remain in the top six, with Ipswich in third place and their hosts in sixth.
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Birmingham City 1-1 Derby County
Championship: Patrick Agyemang and Jack Robinson traded goals as both sides finished a Boxing Day match that was low on quality but high on talking points at St Andrew’s.
Angola 1-1 Zimbabwe
Afcon Group B: It’s finished all square in Marrakesh between Angola and Zimbabwe, who pick up their first points of the competition after two games each. Gelson Dala opened the scoring for Angola but his goal was cancelled out by Knowledge Musona.
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Birmingham City 1-1 Derby County: So close. Birmingham City’s Jack Robinson leaps to connect with a cross into the Derby County penalty area and steers a header on to the bar.
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Red card! Birmingham down to 10 men
Birmingham City 1-1 Derby County: Already on a yellow card and lucky not to have been sent off earlier in the second half, Christoph Klarer gets a straight red card for a high boot on Eboue Adams out by touchline. We’re in added time at St Andrew’s, both sides are down to 10 men and the scores are level.
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Oxford United: Following the dimissal of Gary Rowett three days ago, Oxford United will face Southampton at the Kassam Stadium with Craig Short in interim charge. Rowett and his assistant Mark Sale were relieved of their duties following a disappointing run of results, most recently a 1-0 defeat to Charlton Athletic. Oxford United have won just one of their past 10 games and currently sit 22nd in the Championship.
Birmingham get lucky: Already on a yellow card, Birmingham City captain Christoph Klarer illegally blocks Patrick Agyemang as he attempts to run on to a long ball from deep. Klarer escapes a second yellow and the red that should accompany it but Derby County head coach John Eustace is booked for complaining about what seems a blatant injustice. It’s a baffling decision.
GOAL! Birmingham City 1-1 Derby County (Robinson 64)
Championship: Despite failing to properly get his head to a free-kick aimed towards the far post, Jack Robinson somehow manages to take advantage of some slapstick defending to bundle the ball over the line anyway and equalise for Birmingham City against 10-man Derby County. It’s as scruffy a goal as you’ll ever see but the home fans at St Andrew’s won’t care.
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Millwall 0-0 Ipswich Town: It’s half-time at the Den, where the deadlock between Millwall and Ipswich remains resolutely unbroken.
Afcon: In today’s early match, Knowledge Musona scored for Zimbabwe in the sixth minute of time added on at the end of the first half to cancel out Gelson Dala’s opener for Angola. It’s 1-1 in Marrakesh.
Birmingham 0-1 Derby County: The second half is well under way at St Andrew’s, where Birmingham City trail 1-0 and have just had an excellent shout for a penalty inexplicably turned down. With both his arms wrapped around Marvin Ducksch, Derby defender Matt Clarke fell backwards in his own penalty area, clearly dragging the Birmingham striker to ground with him. He gets away with it.
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John Robertson dies "peacefully" aged 72
There will have been no shortage of glasses raised in Nottingham, Scotland and beyond yesterday in memory of John Robertson, following news of his death at the age of 72. The winger was a hugely important member of Brian Clough’s great Forest team that rose from the second tier of English football to win multiple major honours, most famously back-to-back European Cups.
Described by Clough as “the Picasso of our game”, Robertson played 28 times for Scotland and scored the winning goal in a Home Championship victory over England at Wembley in May 1981. Sachin Nakrani reports …
Premier League and EFL to hold blackout talks
Guardian exclusive: The Premier League and EFL will hold talks early next year about combining to permit 3pm Saturday kick-offs to be broadcast live each week for the first time. Matt Hughes reports …
Today at the Africa Cup of Nations
Group B
Angola 1-0 Zimbabwe (L)
Egypt v South Africa (3pm GMT)
Group A
Zambia v Comoros (5.30pm GMT)
Morocco v Mali (8pm GMT)
Championship: In today’s early kick-off, Derby County lead Birmingham City courtesy of a Patrick Agemang header in the 27th minute, but are down to 10 men following the dimissal of Joe Ward. The Derby winger picked up a silly yellow card for trying to delay a free-kick and was sent off for his second bookable offence 10 minutes later. His crime? Cynically tripping Jonathan Roberts as he advanced on the visitors’ penalty area. He can have no complaints about either caution.
They’re approaching half-time at St Andrew’s, while it’s scoreless at the Den in today’s slightly later kick-off between Millwall and Ipswich Town after 19 minutes.
Boxing Day Championship fixtures
Birmingham City 0-1 Derby County (L)
Millwall 0-0 Ipswich Town (L)
Coventry City v Swansea City
Leicester City v Watford
Middlesbrough v Blackburn
Norwich City v Charlton Athletic
Oxford United v Southampton
Portsmouth v QPR
Sheffield Wednesday v Hull City
Stoke City v Preston
West Brom v Bristol City
Wrexham v Sheffield United (5.30pm GMT)
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Boxing Day clockwatch ...
Good afternoon and season’s greetings to you all. If you’re currently nursing a mild Harvey’s Bristol Cream headache, staring at a mountain of cold meat and unable to get to the TV because nan and the kids are watching Puss In Boots: The Last Wish, you’ve come to the right place. Obviously, if you’re watching Puss In Boots: The Last Wish but wish to simultaneously keep tabs on all of his afternoon’s football action, then you’ve also come to the right place. Welcome, nan.
Unlike your Christmas turkey, there are slim top flight pickings to be had today; a quirk of the 2025 calendar and broadcasting demands means the Premier League has largely pulled up the drawbridge, leaving us with just a solitary nightcap at Old Trafford later on. But fear not, for the EFL remains the heart and soul of the festive schedule. We have a full slate of 3pm kick-offs, in the Championship, including leaders Coventry City hosting Swansea and a high-stakes clash between Middlesbrough and Blackburn.
Beyond the second tier, we’ll be scanning the EFL for any headline news of note — and for those craving something a bit more exotic than a drizzly afternoon in Gillingham, we’re also keeping tabs on Afcon goings-on in Morocco. Angola and Zimbabwe’s Group B game is already under way, while Egypt and South Africa are due to kick off in Agadir at 3pm (GMT). Settle in, grab a drink and a mince pie, and let’s get to it.
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