Brighton are promoted already, and Newcastle United should still be joining them, but beyond those two, the Championship is a disorganized, jumbled mess.
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Norwich City 2-0 Brighton & Hove Albion
Let’s call it the promotion celebration hangover, shall we? After five straight wins secured their place in the Premier League next season, Brighton never really turned up against Norwich on Friday. Scoring one own goal is never an enjoyable experience. Scoring a brace of own goals is an absolute nightmare, which Brighton goalkeeper David Stockdale lived during a disastrous 21-minute period, and will never forget.
Nottingham Forest 3-2 Reading
Having climbed all the way up to third in recent weeks, Reading lost away to relegation threatened Forest on Saturday, and saw their lead in the race for the first playoff spot to be cut from four points to one. Britt Assombalonga put Forest 2-0 up two minutes into the second half, and Mustapha Carayol made it 3-0 before Reading came to life. Yann Kermorgant bagged a second-half brace and brought the visitors back to 3-2 with 15 minutes left to play, but that’s as close as they’d get.
[ MORE: Chelsea beat Tottenham to reach FA Cup final ]
Sheffield Wednesday 2-1 Derby County
Officially the Championship’s most in-form side (five wins and one draw in their last six games), Wednesday have raced past a whole host of sides and moved into fourth place with a comeback victory over Derby. Darren Bent put the visitors ahead three minutes into the second half, but Steven Fletcher and Gary Hooper responded to pull the Owls level and ahead over the the next 16 minutes.
Huddersfield Town 1-4 Fulham
Heading in the opposite direction, Huddersfield have just four wins from their last 11 league games (five losses), and have slipped from third to fifth, where they sit just two points ahead of sixth-place Fulham after a 4-1 home thrashing at the hands of the Cottagers. Scott Malone canceled out Chris Lowe’s early opener, Tom Cairney scored the eventual winner from the penalty spot in the 20th minute, and Stefan Johansen made it 3-1 and 4-1 in the final nine first-half minutes.
Elsewhere in the Championship
(18th) Burton 2-1 (7th) Leeds United
Monday’s Championship schedule
Newcastle United vs. Preston North End — 2:45 p.m. ET
