Daniel Farke blamed himself after his Leeds side were forced to battle back from two down to salvage a 2-2 draw against QPR. Farke considered starting with the defensive midfielder Ilia Gruev but instead opted for a more attacking approach, which backfired as goals from Koki Saito and Steve Cook put Rangers, who had lost their previous four matches, into a surprise lead.
Morgan Fox’s own goal gave the visitors a much-needed boost before the interval and Jayden Bogle equalised soon after the restart. QPR ended the match with 10 men after Saito was sent off in stoppage time for a studs-up challenge on Dan James.
Farke said: “I’m a bit unhappy with myself because I thought, until the early hours in the morning, to bring Ilia Gruev in. But I was a bit too greedy and wanted to dominate the game. This was the problem in the first 25 or 30 minutes. The goals were too cheap. And then when you’re 2-0 down you don’t need to bring on more defensive awareness, you need to take some risks.”
Burnley moved second with a comfortable 2-0 victory at Swansea. The result never looked in doubt from the moment skipper Josh Brownhill tapped home an easy opener inside four minutes and then played a part in his side’s second midway through the first half, which was scored by Jaidon Anthony. The Clarets secured consecutive wins at Swansea for the first time in their league history, while extending their unbeaten run in the current campaign to 25 matches – a run stretching back to 2 November.
Haji Wright scored a hat-trick as Coventry moved back into the playoff places with a 3-0 victory over fourth-placed Sunderland at the CBS Arena. The US international last scored in the Sky Blues’ trip to Sunderland on 9 November but he also sustained an ankle injury in the same game that meant he spent almost four months on the sidelines.
West Brom’s Isaac Price scored his first goal in English football but his side were pegged back by Hull’s late revival in a 1-1 draw. Price’s breakthrough came in the 68th minute after John Swift hit the bar in one of several missed Albion chances, only for Hull substitute Abu Kamara to equalise in the 80th minute. The visitors were then denied three times by Albion goalkeeper Joe Wildsmith at The Hawthorns.
Luton’s hopes of survival took another blow as their wastefulness in front of goal cost them dear during a 0-0 draw with Middlesbrough at Kenilworth Road. Town had looked so bright from kick-off as they came flying out of the traps, creating three excellent chances in the opening 10 minutes, but could not find a way through. Delano Burgzorg hit the side-netting in stoppage time but with results going against the Hatters, Matt Bloomfield’s team are now four points from safety, with Boro staying in eighth spot.
Cardiff substitute Yakou Méïté scored with his first touch to give relegation-threatened Bluebirds a priceless 2-1 win at Blackburn. The visitors came into the game on a run of three consecutive defeats but made a flying start through Yousef Salech’s fourth-minute header. Yuki Ohashi levelled in the 16th minute and it stayed that way until Méïté, who had been on the field for barely a minute, expertly headed home his second goal of the season 17 minutes from time. There was confusion at the death when Rovers were awarded a penalty but it was rightly overturned.
Mark Robins was fuming with the penalty decision that condemned his relegation-threatened Stoke side to a last-gasp defeat against Millwall at The Den. A match that was largely devoid of quality had a dramatic finish thanks to Mihailo Ivanovic converting from 12 yards in the fourth minute of stoppage time to get the Lions back to winning ways.
“It’s never a penalty. It’s never a penalty in a million years and I do not get it,” said Robins. “He [Josh Coburn] attaches himself to our player, threads his arm through our player’s arm, grabs him, rolls, drags him down with him and then he [the referee] has got a decision to make, but the decision isn’t a decision.”
Siriki Dembele struck eight minutes from time to give Oxford a crucial 1-0 victory over 10-man Watford and their first win in 10 league matches. The winger fired home right-footed from 10 yards after referee Bobby Madley played a good advantage when Mark Harris was fouled. It was Dembele’s first goal for the club and came just three minutes after Watford had James Abankwah sent off for a second bookable offence when he fouled Przemy Placheta.
Stefan Thordarson scored just his second goal of the season to earn Preston a late 2-1 victory over Portsmouth. The 26-year-old showed impressive footwork to net the winner in the 87th minute of a game that only really burst into life in the latter stages. Ryan Porteous struck his first goal for Preston in the 76th minute before Colby Bishop equalised with his second goal in three matches.
At the bottom of the table, Plymouth came from 2-0 down against fellow strugglers Derby, only for Marcus Harness to win it for the Rams with two minutes to go. Harness’s second of the game came from a move he started and finished in the 88th minute, passing the ball out wide to Elder on the left, who crossed for Harness to touch home.