Blackburn went top of the Championship as they defeated their former manager Tony Mowbray’s Sunderland 2-0 on his first return to Ewood Park.
Ben Brereton Díaz put Rovers ahead when he curled a left‑footed effort into the top corner from the edge of the box, seconds after a Sunderland penalty appeal was turned down. Scott Wharton’s close-range header soon after half‑time put Rovers in control despite a hint of offside. Sunderland pushed to try to get back into the game but they could not find a way past a resolute home defence as Ryan Hedges’s effort from almost halfway with the final kick of the game glanced the Sunderland post.
Jay Fulton scored a spectacular long-range winner as Swansea City fought back from 2-0 down to claim a thrilling 3-2 win against Reading.
Classy finishes from Yakou Méïté and Tom Ince put Reading on course for an away triumph. But Harry Darling’s header made it 2-1 at half-time before Ollie Cooper swept in the equaliser. Fulton’s stunner in the 74th minute earned Swansea a sixth win in eight games as they bounced back from a weekend thrashing at Burnley.
This was a third successive home win for the Welsh club, who climb to seventh in the table, while Reading drop to ninth after their third successive defeat.
There were echoes of Sunday’s power failure at Leeds when the lights went out inside the opening 60 seconds of the game, prompting a six-minute delay.
The Luton striker Carlton Morris scored against the club where he began his career as Norwich City lost their third successive Championship game. Morris, signed from Barnsley in the summer, fired home his seventh goal of the season from Allan Campbell’s assist as the Hatters stretched their unbeaten run to seven games. Norwich went down to 10 men four minutes later when the Scotland international Kenny McLean was shown a straight red card after appearing to raise an arm to Tom Lockyer.
Teemu Pukki whistled a shot past the post as the Canaries pressed for an equaliser, but there was no way back for Dean Smith’s side as they slipped two places to fifth in the table – below Luton, who moved up to fourth.
Managerless West Brom endured a fourth defeat in seven games as they were beaten by two first-half goals from a resurgent Bristol City. The City top scorer Nahki Wells helped to create the first for the midfielder Joe Williams and then headed the second as the former Albion assistant manager Nigel Pearson made a happy return to the Hawthorns.
The Baggies had made a great start to life after Steve Bruce’s sacking when their caretaker manager Richard Beale led them to a 2-0 win at Reading on Saturday. But limp defending was the root cause of their latest defeat which leaves them a point above the drop zone in 20th.
Preston moved to within two points of the playoff places courtesy of Greg Cunningham’s second-half header as they defeated Huddersfield 1-0 at the John Smith’s Stadium. Both sides had come into the game in stuttering form and it showed, with Preston’s Alvaro Fernández having the best chances towards the end of the first half.
Cunningham headed North End in front five minutes into the second half and Huddersfield failed to get a shot on target as they slipped to their ninth league defeat of the season.
Rotherham moved up to 10th after they beat Stoke 1-0 at the Bet365 Stadium thanks to Ollie Rathbone’s sixth-minute goal.
