When we last checked in on the Championship’s race for promotion, four teams were level on points at the top of the league. That’s right, places 1-4 were separated by nothing more than goal differential and goals scored. Fast forward a week, and we’ve made huge very little progress in breaking up the cluster at the top of the table.
[ MORE: Saturday’s Premier League roundup ]
How much progress, exactly? This week, there’s only three teams level on points at the top of the table. A quick review of this weekend’s action in England’s second division, as up to 10 teams still hold out hop of Premier League promotion at the end of the season.
Bournemouth, Watford, Middlesbrough cruise to big victories, go 1-2-3
Bournemouth 4-0 Blackpool; Watford 4-1 Reading; Boro 4-1 Ipswich — needless to say, Saturday was good to the three sides now sitting atop the Championship table, as the only teams inside the top-nine places cruised to easy victories. The race for the two automatic promotion places now looks like this:
This week is a two-game week for everybody in the Championship, with Bournemouth facing 15th-placed Cardiff and Boro; Watford facing 22nd-placed Wigan and Ipswich; Boro away to Derby and Bournemouth.
Derby County and Norwich City draw 1-1, both fall away from automatic promotion places
The good news for Derby and Norwich is that they’re only two or three points out of the top two. The bad news, for Derby, is that they have no wins in four league games since topping the league just two weeks ago.
Up next for Derby, it’s Boro and Wolves this week, a pair of massive challenges. For Norwich, it’s 18th-placed Huddersfield and playoffs-chasing Forest.
Brentford pulled into race for 6th
Brentford 1-2 Cardiff — A massively disappointing result and one that drops Brentford four points behind Norwich and seven behind the top two. Thankfully for the Bees, no one within seven points of them won on Saturday either, so they’re safe in sixth, for now.
Tune in again, same time next week, for the latest installment of “As the Championship Turns.”
