Championship roundup: Coventry sink Watford to claim sixth successive win.

• 3-1 victory takes Coventry three points clear, as Boro held
• Sheffield Wednesday lose to Oxford as fans enjoy Chansiri exit.

Coventry, the leaders, recorded their sixth win in a row with a 3-1 victory over 10-man Watford, which proved enough to extend their lead at the top to three points.

Frank Lampard’s side got off to a flying start when Brandon Thomas-Asante and Jamie Allen scored within the first seven minutes.

Tatsuhiro Sakamoto made it 3-0 on 42 minutes before James Abankwah was sent off for the visitors. Imran Louza’s second-half penalty proved nothing more than a consolation for Javi Gracia’s side.

It could have been a very different start to the afternoon but for Carl Rushworth in Coventry’s goal, who denied Rocco Vata when the Watford winger was put through one-on-one a minute before Thomas-Asante’s opener.

Abankwah’s red card was for hacking down Haji Wright as the American bore down on goal.

Lampard said: “It was a challenging game today because Watford are a good team, and pound for pound that squad’s a strong team in this league.

There’s no doubt they’ve got a really good coach there and I think they’ll move up the league. It was a tricky game for us and I thought we did the job and we did it well.”

Hayden Hackney’s first goal since mid-August preserved Middlesbrough’s unbeaten home record by securing a 1-1 draw with Wrexham on their first visit to the Riverside Stadium, but Boro, sitting second, thereby let Coventry pull clear of them.

The hosts were forced to battle all the way to deliver a positive result and were thankful to the head of Hackney for finding the net with 10 minutes remaining.

That goal cancelled out Josh Windass’s deflected fourth goal of the season in the seventh minute as Wrexham looked like making it back-to-back wins.

Sheffield Wednesday’s 2-1 defeat by Oxford did little to dampen the mood at Hillsborough, despite the home team falling further behind at the bottom of the table after suffering a 12-point deduction for going into administration this week.

Will Lankshear and Cameron Brannagan scored to give Oxford a two-goal lead at halftime, but Sean Fusire equalised for Wednesday early in the second half.

The game was played against a backdrop of fresh optimism among home fans after it was announced that the controversial owner, Dejphon Chansiri, had relinquished control of the club following the appointment of administrators.

Millwall has now won their past four league games after defeating Leicester 1-0, and Femi Azeez has scored in all of them, with his well-taken goal just before half-time winning the game at the Den.

The victory could have been more comfortable if Mihailo Ivanovic’s penalty had not been saved. Bristol City consolidated their playoff spot with a hard-earned 1-0 victory over Birmingham at Ashton Gate thanks to Sinclair Armstrong’s first-half goal.

The pivotal moment came in the 42nd minute, when the muscular striker raced on to a Rob Atkinson through ball, outpacing the defence and placing a cool right-footed finish past James Beadle.

Carlton Morris scored his fifth goal of the season to give Derby a 1-0 win over QPR. It was his first goal in eight games, but it was enough to condemn QPR to their first away defeat since a thrashing at Coventry in August.

Jack Clarke scored the only goal from the bench as Ipswich returned to winning ways against West Brom at Portman Road.

Ipswich dominated throughout but were unable to capitalise until Clarke scored his fifth goal of the season seven minutes from time.

It was a good win after back-to-back Championship defeats, and it moved Ipswich just one point behind their opponents. Clarke capitalised on a defensive slip by West Brom, assisted by two fellow Ipswich substitutes. Jens Cajuste robbed Alex Mowatt, the West Brom captain, and found Iván Azón, whose effort was parried by Clarke, who shot high into the net.

Mikey Johnston had the ball in the net for West Brom in extra time, but it was ruled out due to a foul in the penalty area.

Ryan Mason looked frustrated afterward. The West Brom boss stated, “I think to concede in the nature that we did is extremely disappointing.” Hayden Matthews, a Portsmouth defender, scored a second-half own goal to give Stoke a much-needed 1-0 victory at Fratton Park. Mark Robins’ team had to work hard to get only their second league win in seven games.

Matthews scored 20 minutes from time, heading a cross from Wales winger Sorba Thomas past his own custodian, Josef Bursik. After a good start to the season, Portsmouth has only won one game since the end of August. Mark Robins believed both teams were fatigued.

The Stoke boss stated, “It was one of the most important wins we’ve had this season.” I believe we’ve demonstrated amazing character. You can see what occurs in a three-game week when you’ve had enough mileage and everything else, and both teams are throwing the ball away foolishly and cheaply.”

Blackburn came from behind to defeat 10-man Southampton, 2-1. Léo Scienza’s brilliant 23rd-minute finish threatened to prolong a run of five defeats in six home games across all competitions this season.

Rovers had hit the goal frame before falling behind, missed two one-on-one opportunities, and survived when former scorer Adam Armstrong was twice clean through, hitting a post.

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