Championship round-up: Sunderland pick up confidence boost

Three games took place all in all - take a look at our round-up of the results:

Millwall 1-1 Preston

Preston North End came from a goal down to rescue a point against Millwall with a 1-1 draw at The Den, with the Lions now unbeaten in their last 10 league H2Hs with the Lilywhites last win coming back in February 2019. 

Zian Flemming, involved in six goals contributions in his three Championship H2Hs, rose to the occasion to net his fifth goal of the season with a confident header from the centre of the box following a pinpoint cross by Geoge Honeyman.

Millwall, now having scored the opening goal in 10 of their 15 league games at the Den this season, took charge with great firmness, but soon succumbed to the Lilywhites on the counter.

Picking up a through ball by Mads Frökjaer-Jense from the right flank, Brad Potts slickly turned his strike into the back of the net with aplomb to net his second goal for Preston.

The visitors were thumped 4-0 by Chelsea earlier this month in the FA Cup in their previous visit to London, however, the manner in which they defended this time stopped them from trailing at HT, giving manager Ryan Lowe enough of an opportunity to re-group going into the break.

Preston were lucky enough to keep the scores level as the final 30 minutes dawned, as repeated attempts by Millwall were thwarted by Lowe’s outfit in the final third, the closest of which was blocked by a defender on the goal line following Wes Harding’s header from a corner. 

With three of Preston’s last four visits to Millwall turning into heartbreak, hopes of redeeming full three points remained for the visitors, but the lack of initiative in the final third allowed Millwall to push for the decisive goal in the final few minutes.

However, neither side came up with the goods as FT approached, as they each took home a point following a hard-fought stalemate. Preston remain 12th with the draw, now four points adrift of the top six.

Meanwhile, Joe Edwards’ men remain unbeaten in four of their last five H2Hs, but are only nine points above the drop zone.

Flashscore Man of the Match: Zian Flemming (Millwall F.C.)

Sunderland 3-1 Stoke

Sunderland avenged a 5-1 defeat to Stoke at the Stadium of Light 10 months ago, with a goal and two assists from Abdoullah Ba reigniting their playoff hopes via a 3-1 victory. The result ends a mini-slump of two home games without a goal for the Black Cats.

After suffering a third straight loss in their latest outing, the last thing Sunderland needed ahead of kick off was the public announcement that Alex Pritchard had asked to leave the club with immediate effect.

By contrast, Stoke came into this game in good form, with just one defeat in six league games, and unsurprisingly enjoyed the lion’s share of shots on target before HT. One of their more memorable efforts in that period was a Luke Cundle shot saved at close range, after Ben Wilmot had set him up.

Luke O’Nien then thwarted Junho on the goal line, and that acted as a wake up call for the Black Cats, who began to improve and took the lead as HT approached. 

Lyndon Gooch was the main architect, breaking down the left flank from a defence-splitting pass, before he shot from the angle. In doing so, he drew an impressive save from Daniel Iversen that took the ball high into the air, before Abdoullah Ba headed down for Mason Burstow, who stooped in to plant in a header of his own at the far post, for his first Sunderland goal since joining on loan.

Stoke were suitably stunned to be going in behind at the break, and now needed a miracle to get anything near a repeat of the 5-1 win they recorded in last season’s corresponding fixture, after an unforgettable second-half goal glut.

But Sunderland nipped any such ideas in the bud within four minutes of the restart, with Ba turning goalscorer after marauding in unimpeded from the right flank to meet a Jack Clarke pass through a gang of Stoke defenders, firing home his third goal of the campaign.

In stark contrast to the H2H result of 10 months ago, it was Sunderland who used the second half to rack up the goals, and they went three to the good with 20 minutes of normal time remaining.

Ba was in on the act again, controlling an aerial ball on the right flank after a botched Stoke clearance, and squaring a pass for his countryman Pierre Ekwah, who drove a low shot into the right-hand corner of a stranded Iversen’s net.

Stoke would register a consolation shortly after, with a sloppy OG from Jenson Seelt at the back post, after Anthony Patterson failed to read a short-range backpass. It was of no consequence though, and Sunderland are now provisionally level on points with sixth-placed Coventry.

Meanwhile, Stoke remain in 19th, with a cushion from the relegation zone that could soon be reduced to five points.

Flashscore Man of the Match: Abdoullah Ba (Sunderland)

QPR 1-1 Huddersfield

Queens Park Rangers rescued a last-gasp point against relegation rivals Huddersfield Town with a 1-1 draw. Despite Kenneth Paal’s 95th minute equaliser, the R’s have now gone seven consecutive home games played on a Sunday without a win. 

Queens Park Rangers had the opportunity to move outside the Championship relegation zone if they could overcome a Huddersfield side who were winless in their last four games and one place ahead of them in the table.

The Terriers hadn’t won on the road since November but you wouldn’t have been able to tell here, starting confidently and almost taking the lead when Sorba Thomas's whipped corner was deflected just over the bar by Steve Cook.

You had to go back to 2016 to find the last time QPR won a home game on a Sunday and that looked unlikely to change here, as the hosts struggled to create anything of note in the opening 45 minutes.

The home side had Jake Clarke-Salter to thank for going in 0-0 at the break, after the defender produced two brilliant goal-saving blocks to deny Rhys Healey from close range.

The visitors started the second half like they did the first, on top and nearly scoring. This time Michał Helik went close after pouncing on a rebound and sending an effort just wide from a tight angle.

Thomas’s corners caused QPR issues all afternoon and he should have had an assist to his name when Helik could only put a header narrowly over the bar from close range.

Huddersfield's hopes to find a winner were dented by an unfortunate injury for their top-scorer Helik who was forced off with 20 minutes left to play.

The hosts' first real chance came when Brodie Spencer gave the ball to Elijah Dixon-Bonner who then curled a low shot past the base of the post from 20 yards. 

The Terriers thought they had produced the final blow with five minutes remaining when Radinio Balker’s effort found its way into the path of Jack Rudoni who had the coolest head in the stadium to take one touch and roll it in to make it 1-0.

To QPR’s credit, they kept throwing everything they had at the Terriers' defence and got their reward in stoppage time when Ilias Chair produced a wonderful cross that was rattled into the top corner by Kenneth Paal to send Loftus Road into eruption.

Paal’s goal secured a valuable 1-1 draw that kept the Hoops three points behind their relegation rivals Huddersfield with seventeen games remaining.

Flashscore Man of the Match: Sorba Thomas (Huddersfield Town)