Newcastle United and Brighton & Hove Albion extended the gap at the summit of the Sky Bet Championship on Matchday 21.
The Seagulls claimed a seventh win from their last 10 games, beating 10-man Blackburn Rovers 3-2 at Ewood Park on Tuesday night. The visitors were 3-1 up in the closing stages after Glenn Murray’s 13th goal of the campaign, but Sam Gallagher’s second strike of the night made for a less flattering scoreline.A day later, Newcastle returned to the top after a 2-0 win at Wigan Athletic, with Mo Diame and Christian Atsu securing the first away win of Sky Sports' #10in10 coverage. The Magpies lead Brighton by a point, and the gap between them and third place is now eight points.
Just five points split Reading in third and Fulham in 10th in the Sky Bet Championship standings, as the Matchday 21 results further congested the race for the Play-Offs.
The Royals lost 2-0 to fifth-placed Leeds United, while Huddersfield Town, Sheffield Wednesday, Birmingham City, Norwich City and the Cottagers all claimed three points of their own.
Derby won too, making it seven straight successes with a late triumph at Queens Park Rangers - Tom Ince settled matters at Loftus Road.
Elsewhere, Cardiff City moved out of the bottom three for the first time this month, after coming from a goal down to beat Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-1 in South Wales. Anthony Pilkington’s late winner ensured the Bluebirds ended their three-game winless run.
Brentford also got past Bristol City to make it two wins from their last two - Maxime Colin deflected Romaine Sawyers’ effort into the net 20 minutes from time - while it finished all square between Nottingham Forest and Preston North End.RESULT OF THE NIGHT: @CardiffCityFC came from behind against @OfficialWolves to win their first game in four and escape the bottom three. pic.twitter.com/Xhzy3g4kwE
— EFL (@EFL) December 13, 2016
Sky Bet Championship: Matchday 21 results
Tuesday 13th December
Birmingham City 2-1 Ipswich Town
Blackburn Rovers 2-3 Brighton & Hove Albion
Bristol City 0-1 Brentford
Burton Albion 0-1 Huddersfield Town
Cardiff City 2-1 Wolverhampton Wanderers
Fulham 2-1 Rotherham United
Leeds United 2-0 Reading
Norwich City 1-0 Aston Villa
Sheffield Wednesday 2-0 Barnsley
Wednesday 14th December
Nottingham Forest 1-1 Preston North End
Queens Park Rangers 0-1 Derby County
Wigan Athletic 0-2 Newcastle United