Championship round-up: Dike bags win for Baggies as Blades sharpen up
Huddersfield 0-0 Bristol City
Huddersfield Town and Bristol City shared the spoils in a goalless draw at the John Smith’s Stadium, as the Terriers recorded their first clean sheet of 2023, but remained six points adrift of safety.
There is certainly no love lost between Terriers’ boss Neil Warnock and Bristol City over the years, following a number of previous heated encounters with the Robins. The 74-year-old revealed his wish to “ruffle a few feathers” ahead of a “tasty” reunion with the club’s supporters, as he seeks to drag the Yorkshire outfit out of an increasingly bleak battle to beat the drop.
However, it was Nigel Pearson's side that began brighter and had a big penalty shout turned down when Mark Sykes looked to have been barged down in the box by Matty Pearson - a decision which bemused the City manager.
It was mostly one-way traffic in favour of the visitors, and Andy King should have drawn first blood with a strike from point-blank range which went wide after Tomáš Vaclík saved Cameron Pring's initial header.
There were limited forays forward for the Terriers, but they had their appeals turned down for a penalty when Jay Dasilva looked fortunate not to be penalised for bringing down Brahima Diarra in the box shortly before the interval.
Warnock freshened up his attack with the introduction of Martyn Waghorn and Josh Koroma, but it did little to stem the tide from the visitors.
Sykes took matters into his own hands with a surging run towards the box, but saw his deflected strike saved by Vaclík. The Czech Republic international was called into action again moments later to push Pring’s cross-shot to safety.
It looked like Pearson’s men could rue those missed chances when Huddersfield broke forward on a quick counter-attack, as Waghorn and Jack Rudoni linked up excellently to tee up Koroma, but he dragged his effort inches wide.
For all of Huddersfield's commendable resistance, they were nearly undone by an own-goal when Jonathan Hogg's header from Anis Mehmeti's cross forced Vaclík into a brilliant one-handed save.
The performance of Vaclík and the Terriers rearguard was ultimately decisive in securing a hard-fought point for Warnock’s men, as the West Yorkshire outfit ended 10 league games without a shutout. Nevertheless, the Terriers remained bottom, while the Robins stayed 13th.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Tomáš Vaclík (Huddersfield Town)
Reading 0-1 Sheffield United
Second-placed Sheffield United claimed a hard-fought 1-0 victory against troubled Reading at the Select Car Leasing Stadium to register their first win on the road in the Championship since December 2022.
It’s been a testing month for the Royals so far. The Berkshire side look set to be handed a points deduction for the second year in a row that could ultimately drag them into a relegation scrap. While waiting for the official verdict from the EFL, Paul Ince’s men suffered a 5-0 thrashing at the hands of promotion-chasing Middlesbrough over the weekend.
Reading now faced a Sheffield United outfit seeking to boost their automatic promotion hopes.
The Blades were aiming to get their campaign back on track following a defeat at Blackburn, and they almost got off to the perfect start, but Joe Lumley was alert to deny Oli McBurnie’s headed chance.
Although the visitors controlled most of the possession in the first half, the Royals had their chances, though Tom Holmes, Andy Yiadom, Andy Carroll and Tom Ince all failed to find the target.
The home side began the second half on the front foot, which saw Ince have a penalty shout waved away by the referee, before Carroll tested Wes Foderingham with a bending right-footed strike.
After failing to make their chances count, Reading fell behind on the hour mark when Iliman Ndiaye tapped in McBurnie’s ball into the danger zone from the byline to score his 11th league goal of the season.
Yiadom had two glorious chances to immediately reply for the Royals, but the Ghana international headed his first opportunity directly at Foderingham before dragging a first-time strike wide.
Foderingham later tipped a powerful Carroll header over the bar as the Blades held on to secure a seventh consecutive league victory at the Select Car Leasing Stadium, while moving seven points clear of third-placed Middlesbrough and 10 points off table-toppers Burnley.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Wes Foderingham (Sheffield United)
West Brom 1-0 Wigan
West Bromwich Albion moved to within four points of the Championship playoff positions following a 1-0 victory over League One-bound Wigan Athletic. The result represented only the Baggies' second victory across their last six league matches.
Desperate to resume their chase on the playoff spots after suffering a 2-0 defeat at Hull City last time out, West Brom struggled to get going in the opening exchanges on a sub-zero night at the Hawthorns.
Wigan stopper Ben Amos found himself largely untroubled early on, but he was beaten in the 27th minute when American international striker Daryl Dike was ideally placed to head in, after the Latics’ number one could only tip Jayson Molumby’s effort onto the crossbar.
Clearly beginning to find his feet in English football, after hitting the goalscoring headlines with CONCACAF Champions League participants Orlando City in a breakout 2022 MLS season, Dike was close to his second successive home brace five minutes later.
However, Amos came up with a sublime save to keep out the towering striker’s fearsome volley and restore some pride.
Aiming for a ninth win in ten home games, West Brom flew out of the tunnel after HT, and Jed Wallace won out in a one-on-one battle with Amos but disappointingly failed to beat the post.
On course for an immediate return to the third tier of English football after only one victory in their last 13 league matches, Wigan continued to search for their first shot on target, despite Latics’ manager Shaun Maloney making an attack-minded double substitution at HT.
Amid a late flurry from Wigan that saw Josh Griffiths keep out Thelo Aasgaard, West Brom remained composed to take the points and revive hopes of a return to the top-flight after just two years’ absence.
Meanwhile, Wigan have now dropped to the foot of the Championship standings on goal difference, ahead of a short but daunting journey to Turf Moor, where they will face runaway league leaders and Lancashire rivals Burnley on Saturday afternoon.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Daryl Dike (West Bromwich Albion)
