On Friday night Sheffield Utd missed a great opportunity to go top of the EFL Championship temporarily, but they could only manage a 0-0 draw in their derby match against city rivals Sheffield Wednesday. Most of the Saturday’s Premier League action involved teams in the bottom half of the table and there were big wins for third from bottom Cardiff City against ten man Brighton and Newcastle Utd recorded their second league win of the season with an impressive 2-1 home win against sixth placed Bournemouth.
Second from bottom Huddersfield and fourth from bottom Southampton both looked on course to pick up their second league wins of the season when they were dominating and leading West Ham and Watford 1-0 late in to the second half. However, they were left to rue their numerous missed chances and that important second goal, which opened the door for the Hammers and Hornets to net late equalizers. Southampton were particularly incensed after a perfectly legitimate second half Austin goal that would have made it 2-0 was disallowed for offside.
Leicester City paid further tribute to their owner who tragically died a fortnight ago in their pre match build up at the King Power before their home match against Burnley. The result paled in to insignificance in the circumstances but after everything the players have been through over the last fortnight, they did their owner and club proud again by dominating the game but they could not convert this in to goals on this occasion and the game ended 0-0.
The live tea-time kick-off was the London Derby between Crystal Palace, who were missing star man Zaha, and Spurs at Selhurst Park and Spurs continued their good record against Palace and fought and scrapped hard for their 0-1 win. The win cemented Spurs fourth place and the defeat sucked Palace further in to the relegation battle and they are now fifth from bottom.
On Super Sunday there were four Premier League games and the big five were all in action. Liverpool won the early lunch-time kick-off with a comfortable 2-0 win against bottom of the league Fulham at Anfield. The win secured second place for the Reds after Chelsea could only manage a 0-0 draw against Everton at Stamford Bridge and Arsenal also dropped points at the Emirates coming from a goal down to draw 1-1 against Wolves. Finally, the match of the day was of course the eagerly anticipated Manchester derby at the Etihad and reigning champions City cemented their position as the best team in the league with an emphatic 3-1 win against their inconsistent and outclassed rivals.
The Championship continues to be as competitive as ever with things changing at the top weekly. Yesterday was no difference as there was a huge amount of excitement, drama and shocks, especially in the second half and latter stages of many games. Leaders Norwich game against Millwall was a perfect example as they miraculously won a seven goal thriller 4-3 against Millwall at Carrow Road. The visitors looked like they would cause the upset when they went 3-2 ahead with seven minutes of normal time remaining, but the Canaries have been prolific in front of goal this season and with great team spirit and belief they never let their heads drop and came together to produce both the equalizer and winner in injury time.
