Yahoo News Championship roundup: Robson-Kanu extends West Brom's lead at the top
West Brom moved seven points clear at the top of the Championship with a 2-0 win over in-form Preston at the Hawthorns. Hal Robson-Kanu was creator and scorer of Albion’s two first-half goals, controlling Callum Robinson’s fine left-wing cross with his chest and firing under the goalkeeper Declan Rudd.
Jake Livermore doubled the lead for Slaven Bilic’s side just before half-time when he latched on to Robson-Kanu’s knockdown to drive a left-foot shot into the corner. Preston also had Darnell Fisher sent off for serious foul play on 64 minutes as Alex Neil’s side stay six points behind second-placed Leeds.
Championship
Cardiff 0-1 Nottingham Forest; Huddersfield 2-1 Bristol City; Luton 2-1 Brentford; QPR 2-1 Derby; West Brom 2-0 Preston
League One
Blackpool 2-1 Bolton; Coventry 1-1 Rotherham; Oxford 3-0 Accrington; Portsmouth 3-1 MK Dons; Shrewsbury 2-3 Tranmere; Sunderland 1-1 Fleetwood
League Two
Cheltenham 2-1 Northampton; Grimsby 4-2 Newport
“It was a very mature performance,” said Bilic. “We looked in control and on the front foot. People are talking about ‘routine’, but we made it like that. We did to them what they were going to do to us – intensity, pressing, second balls, [and] catching them in transition.”
Neil said Fisher’s dismissal was harsh: “At the time I wasn’t quite sure, having seen it back I think it’s a soft one. Watching it back, his left leg doesn’t follow through at all.
It was harsh but it continued a theme of the officials all game.”
Bristol City missed the chance to catch Preston as they lost 2-1 at Huddersfield, with Chris Willock and Emile Smith Rowe impressing to boost the Terriers’ hopes of avoiding successive relegations. Smith Rowe found Willock for the opener, and Smith Rowe, a Arsenal loanee, was brought down by Nathan Baker in the second half, with Karlan Grant converting the penalty.
Brentford’s promotion challenge also suffered a blow, with defeat at struggling Luton extending their winless run to four matches. Shandon Baptiste’s ninth-minute own goal set the tone and Martin Cranie made it 2-0 in first-half injury time when he lashed high into the top corner. Ollie Watkins pulled one back for Thomas Frank’s side late on but Luton hung on.
Nottingham Forest moved above Brentford into third with a 1-0 win at Cardiff. Tiago Silva’s smart finish from Lewis Grabban’s cross early in the second half condemned Neil Harris’s side to a second defeat in four days while Ilias Chair capitalised after a mistake by Wayne Rooney to score QPR’s winner in their 2-1 win over Derby.
The meeting of League One’s top two ended in a 1-1 draw. Freddie Ladapo’s close-range effort put the leaders, Rotherham, ahead after 23 minutes at St Andrew’s but Matt Godden headed Coventry level two minutes into the second half.
Portsmouth returned to the top six with a 3-1 win over MK Dons, while Max Power’s injury-time equaliser rescued a point for Sunderland at home to Fleetwood. At the bottom, Corey Blackett-Taylor boosted Tranmere’s slim survival hopes with a last-gasp winner at Shrewsbury.
