Leeds moved up to second in the Championship as two goalkeeping blunders by Watford’s Daniel Bachmann helped them to a 2-1 win at Elland Road. The Austria keeper was at fault for both Leeds’ goals as they raced into a 2-0 lead inside the opening seven minutes through Largie Ramazani and Brenden Aaronson.
Kwadwo Baah pulled one back for Watford, who were much improved in the second half, but Leeds held on for back-to-back home wins in the space of five days. Daniel Farke’s side extended their unbeaten league run to six matches and have now lost one of their first 11, while Watford slipped to a fifth straight league defeat on the road.
Cardiff climbed out of the relegation zone with a second home win in the space of four days against Portsmouth. A Regan Poole own goal and Callum Robinson’s close-range effort put Cardiff in command after 13 minutes on a night when the Bluebirds’ only regret was that the winning margin should have been far greater than the final 2-0 scoreline.
The victory, fresh from Saturday’s 5-0 thrashing of Plymouth, will strengthen interim manager Omer Riza’s hand in landing the job on a permanent basis. Riza took charge last month with Cardiff bottom of the table after making their worst start to a campaign for 94 years; one point from six games signalling Erol Bulut’s departure. Since losing his maiden outing at Hull, Riza has harvested 10 points from four games.
Shane Duffy ensured Norwich made it six matches without defeat as they fought back from two goals down to draw 2-2 at Preston. Sam Greenwood’s sixth-minute penalty put Preston in front and Duane Holmes grabbed a second for the home side six minutes later. The Canaries rallied as the terrific Borja Sainz pulled a goal back in first-half stoppage time and Duffy bagged the equaliser after 61 minutes. It was the first time Preston have scored under Paul Heckingbottom at Deepdale without winning the match but they do remain unbeaten on home soil under the former Sheffield United manager’s reign.
Dane Scarlett scored for the second game running in Oxford’s 1-1 draw with Derby at the Kassam Stadium – their fifth successive Championship stalemate. Scarlett, making his first league start for the U’s, fired them in front in the 12th minute, deftly turning in Idris El Mizouni’s cutback from the left after good work from Siri Dembele. Nathaniel Mendez-Laing drilled in an equaliser from 18 yards for the Rams 10 minutes into the second half after Will Vaulks gave the ball away.
Nahki Wells struck a quick-fire double as Bristol City came from two goals down to draw 2-2 at Stoke. Lewis Koumas and Andrew Moran had put the Potters 2-0 up inside the opening quarter of an hour before a brace from Wells inside three minutes early in the second half hauled the Robins level. The draw extended Bristol City’s unbeaten run to six matches as they continued to be without head coach Liam Manning following the death of this son Theo earlier this month.
Teenager Kieran Morgan’s first career goal lifted QPR off the foot of the table as they scrapped to a 1-1 draw against Coventry. The 18-year-old midfielder, making only his second substitute appearance for Rangers, struck midway through the second half to snatch a point. QPR had fallen behind to an early Haji Wright goal as fellow early-season strugglers Coventry went in search of a first away win of the campaign. Morgan denied them that, and while Rangers’ wait for a first home win of a torrid season so far goes on, they did at least climb above Portsmouth on goal difference at the bottom of the table.
Swansea’s winless run extended to five matches after a 0-0 draw with Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough. Both sides had chances to take all three points, but neither could find the net.