It wasn’t just the rain falling from the sky yesterday, it was raining goals across the Sky Bet Championship.
With a total of 36 in the 11 games played, there was some unbelievable strikes that featured in a memorable day of football.
The drama at Carrow Road saw Norwich grab all three points to beat Millwall 4-3 with the last kick of the game, scoring seven minutes in to injury time, to go top of the Sky Bet Championship.
Teemu Pukki’s last grasp strike saw the hosts record another win in what was a remarkable game. Trailing at the break, the hosts started the second period on the front foot and soon equalised four minutes in to the second period through Pukki – who despite also missing a first half penalty, now has four goals in his last two outings.
Norwich then led 2-1 after Mortiz Leitner’s 79th minute goal, but in a crazy last ten minutes of the game, Millwall scored twice in four minutes through Ryan Leonard and Jed Wallace and with seven minutes left on the clock they were leading 3-2 until a crazy seven minutes of stoppage time.
But the Canaries weren’t done yet and they laid siege to the Millwall goal. Two minutes in to added on time, Jordan Rhodes’ strike pulled the Canaries level and it looked like there would be a share of the spoils. But Pukki’s goal in the dying embers of the game had the final say.
Leeds United could have gone back to the top of the table with victory at West Bromwich Albion in the evening kick-off at the Hawthorns, but the home side had other ideas as they put in an excellent performance to win 4-1.
Albion are now the top scorers across all of England’s top four divisions with 37 league goals thanks to strikes from Hal Robson-Kanu, Matt Phillips, Harvey Barnes and Dwight Gayle. The Baggies didn’t give their promotion chasing visitors any chance to breath and in a tight first half, it was the home side who created the best chances.
But they came to fruition in the second period scoring some lovely goals to earn what is their first win in four games and lifts them back in to the play-off places - very much in contention with the chasing pack.
Che Adams scored a hat-trick for Birmingham City at St. Andrews in another incredible game on matchday 17. The Blues remain the only unbeaten side at home in the division after scoring a late equaliser against Hull City.
Adams had scored twice in the first-half and sent Birmingham in to a comfortable lead at the break but Hull striker Fraizer Campbell scored twice in nine second half minutes to pull the Tigers level, before they took the lead with a stunning free kick from winger Kamil Grosicki in the 73rd minute.
But it was Adams who with six minutes to go completed his hat-trick with his eighth of the season and keep Birmingham’s impressive home run going.
It was a dramatic afternoon at Loftus Road as QPR narrowly saw off Brentford in the West London Derby. Neal Maupay netted his 12th goal of the season to give the Bees a first-half lead and they were looking well set at half-time.
But the home side scored three times in a ten-minute blast at the start of the second half that proved too much for Brentford to handle and despite scoring with nine minutes to play, QPR held on to win 3-2 and move up to 10th and just two points outside the play off places.
Aston Villa recorded an impressive 3-0 victory away at Derby County. It was their first win on the road under Dean Smith and the first time Villa had taken maximum points on the road since the opening day.
Scotland midfielder John McGinn was influential in securing the win for the visitors and he broke the deadlock with 15 minutes to go before Tammy Abraham was set up by McGinn to double Villa’s lead and Conor Hourihane scored a sensational free-kick to put the icing on the cake.
Middlesbrough had Jordan Hugill to thank as they kept the pressure on at the top of the table with a routine 2-0 victory over Wigan at the Riverside Stadium. Hugill showed his delight as he scored a first half brace which means that Boro sit just two points behind Norwich in 3rd.
Paul Lambert was denied his first win as manager of Ipswich Town as his side could only draw at Reading. They led 2-1 for the majority of the game after a crazy first few minutes at the start of the first-half that saw the visitors twice take the lead inside the first 11 minutes. But with six minutes remaining, Yakou Meite scored to earn the Royals a valuable point and keep Town bottom of the table and six points adrift.
Elsewhere, there was a big win for Preston at Bristol City as they won on their travels for the first time this season with a 1-0 victory at Ashton Gate.
Swansea also improved upon their poor away form to take maximum points with a 1-0 win themselves at struggling Bolton, thanks to Barrie McKay’s stunning 25-yard strike, his first ever goal for the Swans.
At the City Ground, it ended in a stalemate between Nottingham Forest and Stoke City with the visitors once again having Jack Butland to thank. The keeper was in sublime form and earnt his side a valuable point and a third consecutive clean sheet.
Blackburn also had their main man to thank as Bradley Dunk scored again to equalise late on for Rovers against Rotherham in a 1-1 draw at Ewood Park.
The steel city Derby ended in a 0-0 stalemate on Friday night as the two Sheffield sides shared the spoils at Bramall Lane. It was Utd who had the most of the game but had their keeper Cameron Dawson to thank for his first half penalty save that helped earn Wednesday an important point to stop their recent run of defeats.