Ben Brereton Díaz scored twice as his fine run of form continued in Blackburn’s 4-0 win over Birmingham, lifting his side to third in the Championship.
Blackburn needed just six minutes to open up their opposition, with John Buckley scoring his first of the campaign. Although the visitors rallied towards the end of the half and were unlucky when Chuks Aneke’s strike hit the crossbar, Blackburn ruthlessly put them to the sword with three second-half goals.
Reda Khadra’s composed finish made it 2-0 and Brereton Díaz slotted home a penalty on the hour before the Chilean striker capped a fine move with a close-range header, his 19th goal of the season.
Blackburn’s promotion push shows no signs of fading after they registered a fifth consecutive clean sheet for the first time since 1996-97, and a fifth straight league win for the first time since 2000. Birmingham’s away misery continued with a sixth loss in nine, during which time they have scored just three times.
Nottingham Forest extended their unbeaten run to nine league matches as Brennan Johnson hit the winner in a 2-1 victory over Hull.
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Dan Barlaser scored the only goal of the game as Rotherham beat Cambridge 1-0 to stay top. The midfielder broke the deadlock for the leaders in the second half, being set up by a run from Chiedozie Ogbene from inside his own half.
James McClean got a late winner for second-placed Wigan to beat Oxford 3-2 as the Latics continue to put pressure on the Millers at the top of the table.
Will Keane got the opener eight minutes in and Max Power doubled the lead just after the half-hour mark. Oxford responded instantly, with Ryan Williams pulling a goal back just one minute later before Matt Taylor levelled the scores in the second half. But McClean found a winner in the 86th minute for Wigan to sit two points behind Rotherham in second.
Sunderland came from behind to draw 1-1 away to Ipswich after the Tractor Boys took the lead through James Norwood on the cusp of half-time. Nathan Broadhead levelled the scores after the break for the Black Cats to earn a point and sit just outside of the automatic promotion spots in third.
A brace from Daniel Udoh helped 10-man Shrewsbury beat Cheltenham 3-1. Udoh put the hosts in front but Andy Williams was able to level the scores six minutes later for the Robins.
Shrewsbury went down to 10 men just before half-time when Tom Bloxham was shown a straight red card. Udoh scored again for the Shrews to restore their lead and David Davis netted a third for the hosts to earn their sixth win of the season.
Kieran Agard helped Plymouth move up to fifth with a 1-0 win against Charlton and it finished goalless between Morecambe and Fleetwood at the Mazuma Stadium.
That sequence equalled Forest’s best since 2016 with Johnson completing a second-half comeback that had been started by their captain, Lewis Grabban, who scored his 10th goal from the penalty spot after Keane Lewis-Potter had put the Tigers in front. The win moved Forest to seventh, one point outside the play-off places.
Huddersfield came from behind to secure their first away league victory since September with a 3-2 win over Bristol City at Ashton Gate.
Play was held up for several minutes by crowd trouble in the second half as missiles were thrown by home fans when the visitors prepared to take a left-wing corner and referee Dean Whitestone signalled both teams to their respective dug-outs while order was restored.
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Donovan Wilson’s first-half strike fired Sutton to a 1-0 win over Harrogate and into the promotion places. The U’s striker scored the only goal of the game on the half hour mark when Omar Bugiel slipped him in and he coolly slotted past keeper Dean Bouzanis.
Jake Beesley scored twice to help Rochdale end their run of six league games without defeat with a 3-0 win over Newport at the Crown Oil Arena. The first goal came when Conor Grant provided the lay off and Beesley struck from the edge of the area and found the bottom corner.
He got his second from the penalty spot after Corey O’Keeffe was brought down in the box, and Liam Kelly got the third late on to wrap up all three points for Dale.
Tranmere made it four wins on the spin thanks to a Jay Spearing strike on the hour mark to beat Leyton Orient 1-0 at Prenton Park. Josh Hawkes put it on a tee for Spearing on the edge of the box who rifled his effort into the top corner to condemn Orient to their second successive defeat.
Salford City returned to winning ways with a 1-0 victory over lowly Stevenage at the Peninsula Stadium. The goal came just after the half-hour mark when Ash Hunter found Jordan Turnbull at the back post and he nodded in from close range. Stevenage are now without a win in six games across all competitions.
Eight League Two Saturday matches were postponed as the Omicron variant of Covid played havoc with the fixture list.
City took the lead two minutes in through Andreas Weimann before the Terriers were awarded a penalty, but Dan Bentley saved Danny Ward’s effort. Huddersfield found the equaliser just before half-time through Duane Holmes and Danel Sinani put them in front one minute into the second half.
Ward made up for his earlier penalty miss by nodding home their third before Weimann scored a consolation for the Robins in stoppage time.
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Blackpool beat Peterborough 3-1 – their first win in eight games – to move up to 12th. Siriki Dembele put Posh in front 10 minutes in, going round the goalkeeper and slotting home, before Keshi Anderson hit the equaliser. The Seasiders retook the lead in the 86th minute through Sonny Carey and Jerry Yates scored a third in the 90th.
Bournemouth were unable to take advantage of West Brom’s draw with Barnsley on Friday, losing 1-0 at Middlesbrough.