Chris Martin's 81st-minute penalty sent Derby County to the top of the Sky Bet Championship after the Rams recorded a 1-0 victory over bottom-of-the-table Blackpool.
The Seasiders looked on course for an unlikely point until their captain Tony McMahon upended Johnny Russell in the area inside the final 10 minutes.Scotland international Martin, who scored a brace at the weekend, kept his cool and lashed home his 10th goal of the season.
The Rams took full advantage of Watford's slip up as Michail Antonio's brace ensured Nottingham Forest claimed a 2-2 draw at Vicarage Road.
New Hornets boss Slavisa Jokanovic was bidding to make it two wins from two after guiding his team to the summit at the weekend following the victory over Sheffield Wednesday.
They led twice against Stuart Pearce's men with Odion Ighalo and Matej Vydra both on target but Antonio struck in either half to curtail Jokanovic's dream start.
Third-placed Middlesbrough were beaten 2-0 at Wolverhampton Wanderers, who ended a four-game winless streak to leap up to fourth in the division.
Bakary Sako converted a first-half penalty to score for the fourth successive fixture before Nouha Dicko added a second after the interval.
Russell Slade maintained his 100 per cent record since taking charge of Cardiff City, after the Bluebirds ran out 3-1 winners over Ipswich Town.
Daryl Murphy had fired the visitors ahead but Slade's men rallied with goals from Peter Whittingham, Federico Macheda and Adam Le Fondre.
Managerless Birmingham City avoided dropping into the bottom three, despite losing 1-0 at Blackburn Rovers, as they began life without Lee Clark.
Ben Marshall scored the winner against the Blues, who had Neal Eardley dismissed in the second-half at Ewood Park.
Fulham, also without a permanent manager, would have climbed out of the relegation zone had they beaten Rotherham United, yet they drew 3-3 at the New York Stadium.
The hosts lead three times through Alex Revell, Jonson Clarke-Harris and Nikolay Bodurov's own goal, only to see strikes from Ross McCormack, Cauley Woodrow and Dan Burn peg them back on each occasion.
Neil Lennon suffered his first defeat in charge of Bolton Wanderers as Charlton Athletic bounced back from their only defeat of the season at the weekend with a 2-1 victory over the Trotters.
The Addicks lost their unbeaten record at Bournemouth four days ago, but got back to winning ways thanks to goals in either half from George Tucudean and Johnnie Jackson, with Dean Moxey replying for Wanderers.
Bournemouth won their third game on the spin as Brett Pitman bagged a brace in the 3-0 victory over Reading after Callum Wilson had struck the opener.
There were 1-1 draws between Norwich City and Leeds United, and Huddersfield Town and Brighton & Hove Albion, while in the bottom half of the table, Wigan Athletic drew for the fourth straight game in a goalless stalemate with Millwall, with Sheffield Wednesday also claiming a point after recording the same scoreline at Brentford.