Championship: West Brom blow lead to give QPR survival hope; Preston rock Reading late on
- Simon Wilkes
- 10 April 2023
Josh Griffiths’ gaffe handed QPR a survival lifeline as West Brom’s fading play-off hopes took another hit on Easter Monday, while Preston secured a vital 2-1 win over Reading.
Chris Martin charged down the goalkeeper's clearance to score as Rangers came from 2-0 down to salvage a 2-2 draw.
It kept Gareth Ainsworth's men two points clear of the Championship relegation zone and ended a four-match losing streak.
Brandon Thomas-Asante and Semi Ajayi had put the Baggies in control inside 15 minutes before Lyndon Dykes pulled a goal back.
Albion are now five points adrift of the top six with six games left.
Preston moved to within a whisker of the play-off places as Brad Potts' stoppage-time header secured a 2-1 win against relegation-threatened Reading.
Ryan Lowe's in-form North End side dominated but came within seconds of dropping two potentially priceless points late on.
That was until Potts darted in to head home Andrew Hughes' cross with seconds remaining to pull Preston level on points with sixth-placed Blackburn.
Norwich missed an excellent opportunity to move into the play-off places when they were held to a frustrating goalless draw by Rotherham.
With Blackburn drawing at Huddersfield earlier in the day, the Canaries would have climbed into the top six with a win at Carrow Road.
But despite dominating the match for long periods they could find no way through a determined rearguard, with the visitors picking up another useful point in their battle against the drop.
Faltering Millwall remain in the play-off places but are now without a win in four matches following a 1-0 defeat at Hull.
Half-time substitute Adama Traore's superb strike from the edge of the penalty area after 70 minutes - his first goal for the club - did the damage in a strange game of football.
Dennis Cirkin's third goal of the season earned Sunderland a 1-0 win over Cardiff to move them to within four points of the play-off places.
Cirkin had the simple task of tapping in from two yards out after a free-kick from Alex Pritchard had come back off the post. A second successive home defeat for Cardiff keeps them in the relegation picture in 21st.
Long-serving Luton midfielder Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu scored twice as his side pushed Blackpool closer to relegation with a 3-1 victory.
Andy Lyons had given the Seasiders a shock lead, but after Mpanzu's first goal levelled on the stroke of half-time, Carlton Morris put Luton in front and Mpanzu sealed the points.
Coventry and Watford played out an entertaining 2-2 draw at the CBS Arena that did little for their respective play-off dreams in the Championship.
First-half goals from Joao Pedro and Imran Louza put the Hornets 2-0 up but Matthew Godden and Ben Sheaf rescued a point for the Sky Blues.
Coventry sit three points off the play-off places with Watford a further three points off the pace with five games remaining.
Wigan took another step towards an immediate return to Sky Bet League One after going down 2-0 at home to midtable Swansea with barely a whimper.
A first-half brace from Dutch striker Joel Piroe claimed maximum points against the Championship basement boys, who remain eight points adrift of safety and with only five matches left to pull off what looks to be an impossible task of survival.
John Ruddy made a crucial stop to earn Birmingham a much-deserved point in their 0-0 draw at home to Stoke.
Overall a draw was certainly a fair result for both sides after Stoke dominated the majority of the proceedings in this mid-table Championship clash.
However, it could be argued Blues had the better chances with Krystian Bielik missing an open goal three minutes from time.
