Saturday 23 January 2016 22:36, UK
Hull City moved to the top of the Sky Bet Championship table thanks to Abel Hernandez's late penalty in a 1-0 win at Fulham.
Hernandez had an early chance to make it six goals in four games when put in one-on-one with Andy Lonergan, but the Fulham goalkeeper made a fine save to keep the scores level.
Fulham dominated possession, but lacked cutting edge without the unwell Ross McCormack, and their best chance came on 37 when Moses Odubajo prevented Alex Kacaniklic opening the scoring by clearing his apparent tap-in off the line.
But Hernandez did get his goal 10 minutes from time when Odubajo was brought down in the box by Lasse Vigen Christensen and the Uruguay striker made no mistake from 12 yards for what turned out to be the game's only goal.
Middlesbrough lost for only the second time this season at the Riverside Stadium, going down 1-0 to mid-table Nottingham Forest.
The leaders could have grabbed an early advantage but defender Daniel Ayala headed wide when unmarked in the box, while Cristhian Stuani was inches off target with a header seconds before the break.
Boro came close in the early stages of the second period when a Grant Leadbitter free-kick thumped off the crossbar.
But it was Forest who grabbed the winner 20 minutes from time when Jamie Ward placed an effort past Dimi Konstantopoulos to cap a quick counter-attack.
Brighton moved back up to third, ahead of Monday combatants Derby County and Burnley, with a 2-1 win over Huddersfield at the Amex Stadium.
Albion struggled to find their rhythm early on, but withstood plenty of pressure and took the lead on the half-hour when Bobby Zamora took a pass from Anthony Knockaert and fired past Jed Steer.
Their lead lasted until seconds before half-time when Huddersfield grabbed a deserved equaliser, Harry Bunn heading home a Tommy Smith cross from six yards out.
Knockaert was at the heart of things again when Brighton regained the lead, the former Leicester midfielder putting in a delightful cross for James Wilson to smash into the net.
Sheffield Wednesday dropped a couple of points on their travels when they were pegged back to a 1-1 draw with Reading at the Madejski Stadium.
Wednesday took the lead in the 10th minute when Gary Hooper, whose loan move was made permanent earlier in the week, slotted home from close range.
Reading were given the chance to level on 24 minutes when Owls captain Glenn Loovens brought down Matej Vydra in the area, but the Czech Republic striker missed from the spot.
Wednesday were eventually pegged back with 16 minutes remaining when Jake Cooper rose and headed Ollie Norwood's corner past Keiren Westwood.
Birmingham City moved up to seventh above Ipswich Town with a comfortable 3-0 win over Mick McCarthy's men at St Andrews.
Visiting 'keeper Dean Gerken had a busy first 20 minutes and was finally beaten on 23 when Will Buckley tapped home from close range after he had parried an effort from Clayton Donaldson.
Ipswich had Jonathan Douglas sent off just before half-time for a nasty foul on Buckley and the Blues took advantage of the extra man in style on 54 when Jon Toral's sublime volley made it 2-0.
Birmingham put the game beyond Ipswich with 20 minutes remaining and it was another superb volleyed goal, this time from Maikel Kieftenbeld.
Anthony Pilkington had a interesting 90 minutes in Cardiff City's 2-2 draw with struggling Rotherham.
The game took a while to warm up and Cardiff had just created their first couple of chances when Pilkington gave them a 25th minute lead, controlling a flick from Joe Mason and beating Lee Camp.
But the Millers responded well and managed to level a minute before half-time when Joe Newell rounded home 'keeper David Marshall and slotted home from a narrow angle.
Pilkington scored again four minutes into the second half, but this one came at the wrong end as his sliced clearance beat Marshall and gave Rotherham the lead.
His day ended a little more positively when he scored his second of the day on the hour, and Cardiff managed to hold on for a point after Lee Peltier was dismissed.
Brentford climbed into the top 10 with a 3-1 win over Preston at Deepdale to end a run of four successive defeats,
The game opened up with two goals in quick succession midway through the opening half, Jake Bidwell giving Brentford the lead on 22 through a swirling free-kick, that possibly took a deflection off home defender Greg Cunningham, moments before Adam Reach levelled from close range.
Brentford reclaimed the lead with a fine effort from in-demand winger Alan Judge two minutes before half-time, controlling a long ball from 'keeper David Button and taking a touch before firing past Sam Johnstone.
John Swift added a third for Dean Smith's men with 10 minutes remaining, with the Bees only seven points adrift of the play-off places.
Queens Park Rangers failed to follow up their win over Rotherham last weekend as they were held to a 1-1 draw against Wolves in a mid-table clash at Loftus Road.
QPR were in front almost before fans had a chance to sit down, with Sebastian Polter making it four goals in five games as he headed home a Matt Phillips free-kick.
Leroy Fer and Phillips had chances to extend the lead but Wolves pulled level, in fortunate circumstances, three minutes into the second half when a shot from James Henry took two deflections off QPR defenders and left home 'keeper Alex Smithies completely wrong-footed.
Midweek signing Conor Washington came off the bench in the second-half and set up QPR's best late chance but Tjaronn Chery's effort came back off the post.
Leeds United moved further clear of the relegation zone with a 1-0 win over Bristol City at Elland Road to extend their unbeaten run to four games.
Marco Silvestri was the busier goalie in a goalless opening half, saving well from Robins loanee Ben Gladwin, who also headed another chance wide of goal.
Leeds broke the deadlock on 59 minutes with their first shot on target, Stuart Dallas playing the ball in for Chris Wood, who laid it off for Souleymane Doukara to fire past Richard O'Donnell.
Charlton Athletic fans staged a protest about the way the club is being run before their clash with Blackburn Rovers, which ended in a 1-1 draw at The Valley.
Their protests turned to cheers on 30 minutes when Harry Lennon put Charlton in front from a Johann Gudmundsson free-kick that was not cleared properly by the Rovers defence.
Hopes of a half-time lead were dashed in added time when Jordan Rhodes, who continues to be linked with a move away, levelled for Blackburn with a header that crept over the line after Stephen Henderson got his hands to it to tip on to the post.
Charlton had chances to reclaim the lead, with Igor Vetokele and Morgan Fox missing out, but Rovers finished strongly and went close to a winner on two occasions, Rhodes seeing a shot saved after Corry Evans dragged an effort wide.
Bottom side Bolton closed the gap on Charlton to one point with a 3-1 win over the MK Dons at the Macron Stadium.
Academy product Rob Holding gave Bolton a sixth-minute lead with his first senior goal, when he reacted quickest to put the ball into an empty net after Gary Madine had headed against the bar.
The home side made it 2-0 four minutes before half-time when the ball fell to Darren Pratley in the box and the midfielder's deflected effort beat a stranded David Martin.
Josh Murphy gave the Dons hope with a 35-yard stunner in the 89th minute, but their excitement lasted only a matter of seconds after Shola Ameobi made it 3-1 early in added time from a Dean Moxey cross.
