We are just a week away from reaching the halfway mark in the 2019-20 edition of the EFL Championship and the promotion race is shaping up nicely, with the platform very much set for yet another intriguing top-six battle.
Leeds United and West Brom have emerged as the undisputed favourites to secure automatic promotion but there is still plenty to play for in the coming months as far as the other promotion-hopefuls are concerned, with four playoff spots still up for grabs.
Just like any other round of Championship football, Matchday 22 also produced loads of drama and excitement for all sets to fans to savour, as well as plenty of talking points for the media to speculate on and dissect.
With that in mind, let us rewind some of the action from the weekend and run the rule over 3 winners and 3 losers from Matchday 22 of the 2019-20 EFL Championship.
Having been held to a 1-1 draw by Wigan Athletic away from home in their previous outing, West Brom made the trip to St. Andrew’s to face Birmingham City on Saturday placed second in the standings, behind Leeds United on goal difference.
Goals from Lukas Jutkiewicz and Harlee Dean on either side of Grady Diangana’s tap-in sparked hopes of an unlikely victory for Pep Clotet’s side but a quick-fire brace from Charlie Austin towards the back end of the clash meant that the Baggies grabbed all three points with a thrilling 3-2 victory.
As a result, Slaven Bilic’s side leapfrogged Leeds United to go top of the Championship standings, with the Whites dropping points against Cardiff City.
Swansea City’s promotion hopes have come under some severe jeopardy in recent times due to a string of lacklustre results and Steve Cooper’s played host to bottom-table Middlesbrough at the Liberty Stadium on Saturday on the back of a winless run of six games in the Championship.
The Swans had been desperate to get their campaign back on track and a brace from star man Andre Ayew followed by a late strike from loanee Sam Surridge meant that the Welsh outfit returned to winning ways against a listless Boro unit, who finished Matchday 22 placed 20th in the standings.
Cooper’s side climbed up to 10th in the standings as a result of that victory and the fans will surely take that as the beginning of a turnaround.
When it comes to some of the surprise playoff contenders in the Championship this season, Blackburn Rovers have fired themselves into the top-six contention with a string of impressive results in recent weeks.
Tony Mowbray’s side made the trip to Bristol City this weekend on the back of four wins in their last five games and a 2-1 victory over the Robins ensured that Rovers made it five wins in six outings.
The Lancashire outfit climbed up to 9th in the standings and closed the gap on the top-six to just a solitary point, thanks to a 2-0 victory powered by goals from Bradley Johnson and Adam Armstrong.
The West Yorkshire giants have seldom found themselves in this list but a 3-3 draw against Cardiff City is not something that many fans would have anticipated, especially after Leeds United appeared to have sealed the tie with a 3-0 lead.
The Whites looked set for a comfortable victory after Helder Costa’s early opener followed by a brace from Patrick Bamford but Kiko Casilla’s goalkeeping error allowed Lee Tomlin to reduce the deficit and spark hopes of a remarkable Cardiff comeback.
Leeds went off the boil towards the fag end of the game, with Sean Morrison and Robert Glatzel finding the net to ensure that both the teams shared spoils after a riveting encounter. Bielsa’s side dropped down to second in the standings after letting a three-goal advantage slip at Elland Road.
Bristol City had been flying high in the Championship until just a week ago but a 2-0 loss against Blackburn Rovers ensured a second straight league defeat for Lee Jonhson’s side, who slipped down to 7th in the standings.
Having suffered an unlikely 2-1 loss against Millwall in their previous outing, the Robins were once again far from their sparkling best as Tony Mowbray’s side ran away with all three points from the trip to Ashton Gate.
A quick-fire hat-trick from Jordan Rhodes followed by Steven Fletcher’s goal in first-half injury-time meant that Sheffield Wednesday romped home to a comfortable 4-0 victory over playoff rivals Nottingham Forest, who stretched their winless run to six games in the Championship.
The slide continued for Sabri Lamouchi’s side as the Reds slipped down to 8th in the standings and lost further ground on automatic-promotion hopefuls Leeds United and West Brom.