Fulham were unable to find a breakthrough in the absence of the Championship’s leading goalscorer Aleksandar Mitrovic as they were held to a 0-0 draw by bottom club Derby at Craven Cottage.
Marco Silva’s team were seeking an eighth successive win but they were denied by Wayne Rooney’s determined side. Fulham were left frustrated after being unable to capitalise on a succession of good chances, with Silva revealing afterwards that “six or seven players” including Mitrovic were affected by illness.
“It is a good point, a very difficult game against one of the best teams in the division,” Rooney said afterwards. “After the last week, to get four points against Bournemouth and Fulham, they deserve credit for that.”
“I give the players big demands every day and they haven’t let me down one bit,” Rooney added. “We’ll keep fighting and pushing, you never know – even if there’s a small chance of staying up.”
“It definitely wasn’t our best performance but we created enough to win the game,” said Silva. “It’s something that can happen. We lost to Blackpool when Mitro played – he is an important player but he is not the reason we didn’t win the game.”
Bournemouth could not find the win they needed to go top, as they shared the spoils with Millwall in a 1-1 draw at the Den. Dominic Solanke opened the scoring for Scott Parker’s side, who looked to be heading for victory before Benik Afobe’s second-half equaliser changed the pattern of the game.
“I thought we were holding on for large parts of the second half,” said the Bournemouth manager, Scott Parker. “I think there was only one team at the end that was going to win the game and that certainly wasn’t us, so I think overall it’s a well-earned point.”
Stoke’s three-game winning streak ended in a surprise loss to Bristol City at Ashton Gate, with Potters manager Michael O’Neill critical of referee Oliver Langford after the match.
Tyreeq Bakinson volleyed the winner on 38 minutes after a Tomas Kalas long throw was flicked into his path, while Stoke hit the woodwork twice and spurned numerous chances before Joe Allen was sent off in stoppage time.
“The officials missed so much in that game and the referee has to be stronger and braver than he was tonight,” fumed O’Neill, who felt his side should have been awarded three penalties and that Bristol City midfielder Ayman Benarous should have been sent off.
“It wasn’t a great tackle from their young lad on Mario Vrancic because he was off the ground,” O’Neill said. “He caught Mario and in this day and age it was a tackle you can’t make. We were clearly the better side, but the goal gave them something to hang on to in the second half.”
Blackburn are in seventh, one point behind Stoke, after an emphatic 4-0 victory over Peterborough. Harry Pickering headed Rovers into the lead, with Ben Brereton Díaz and Darragh Lenihan also finding the net before half-time. Díaz then added a fourth on the hour to round off the scoring.
Luke Amos scored a late winner for QPR as they beat Huddersfield 1-0 and moved up to fourth in the table. Only recently back from his second long-term knee injury, Amos headed in Chris Willock’s cross with nine minutes remaining at the Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium.
The QPR manager, Mark Warburton, paid tribute to Amos after his winner. “I’m delighted for Luke after what he’s been through,” he said. “He deserves that moment because he has worked tirelessly. You won’t find a better young professional.”
Olivier Ntcham and Jamie Paterson struck in the second half for Swansea as Poya Asbaghi’s first game in charge of Barnsley ended in a 2-0 defeat, their 10th loss in 11 matches. Ntcham scored from close range in the 74th minute before Paterson doubled the lead five minutes later.
Keane Lewis-Potter scored the only goal of the game as Hull won 1-0 at Cardiff to climb above their fellow strugglers and up to 19th in the table.