Championship round-up: Watford have day to forget, Leeds lay down marker
It's often touted in football that you can properly judge a club, player or manager after 10 games and that milestone finally passed in the Championship - with the table starting to take shape as sides start to provide slightly more 'accurate' performances.
Leeds picked up a huge win on Friday evening while Burnley and Blackburn also found themselves pushing higher into the top six.
At the bottom of the league, both QPR and Coventry continued to struggle but Cardiff picked up a resounding 5-0 win against relegation rivals Plymouth.
As ever, Flashscore will look at all the key talking points from this weekend's Championship action.
Sheffield United's unbeaten run ends
Sheffield United were the only team in the entire EFL yet to lose heading into the weekend's fixtures, with the Blades building white-hot momentum as they made a charge to the top of the table.
Their latest test would come against fellow promotion favourites Leeds at Elland Road in what was set to be a true measure of both sides' qualities.
In the build-up to the match, Sheffield United had to deal with the tragic passing of former player George Baldock who had only left a few months prior and was good friends with many members of the squad as well as manager Chris Wilder.
It made for quite a sombre affair on what is usually a fiery Yorkshire derby, with a beautiful tribute paid to the former Blades defender before kick-off.
Once the game kicked off, Leeds quickly took advantage of a buzzing home crowd and established dominance over the visitors, creating a few chances in the first half but not managing to find a way through - leaving the match finely poised for an exciting second half.
With Sheffield United's defence standing strong, it took a set piece from Leeds to break the deadlock as Pascal Struijk turned in a low cross from Joe Rothwell - their first goal from a corner all season.
It was just the fourth goal conceded by the Blades in the league and prompted a solid reaction but Wilders' men struggled to create a serious chance for an equaliser.
That's where Leeds took advantage as with the game stretched in its latter stages, Matteo Joseph found space in the area and smashed home from close range to seal all three points.
A common - if not sometimes lazy - criticism of Sheffield United is that they don't have sufficient depth to challenge for automatic promotion; Leeds however absolutely do.
That was highlighted on Friday, with Daniel Farke's substitutes playing a crucial role in the victory while Wilder's new additions were helpless to change the tide of the match.
Both clubs will certainly be around the top two come May, but it will be interesting to see how the Blades deal with their first setback of the campaign and whether Leeds start to build some real momentum on what could turn out to be a season-defining result.
QPR hit rock bottom
QPR were touted as potential dark horses for the play-offs at the start of the season under the highly-rated manager Marti Cifuentes, but their campaign so far has not gone to plan at all.
The Rs have won just once in the league and have lost their last four games including two poor results against newly promoted Derby and Portsmouth.
That run of form has seen them fall to the bottom of the table with just seven points and caused plenty of concern for the rest of the campaign.
QPR's latest defeat came against Portsmouth, losing 2-1 at home to the side directly below them at the beginning of the weekend.
It was Portsmouth's first win in the league and perhaps the lowest point of the season so far for QPR who now have to turn things around soon to avoid being dragged into a bleak relegation fight.
Cifuentes was a huge fan favourite after his performances as manager last season and perhaps still has some credit in the bank because of that - but things change quickly in football and the Spaniard needs to find a way to get his side back to their best before it's too late.
Luton take bragging rights over Watford
Some neutrals may not know, but Luton v Watford is a pretty big derby and always gets plenty of attention when the two sides meet.
Just two years ago Rob Edwards was sacked by the Hornets and swiftly employed by their rivals before guiding them into the Premier League - but now both clubs are back in the Championship.
The Hatters have actually been struggling a fair bit results-wise this season while Watford are flying high near the top of the table - making them heavy favourites going into the derby.
Any extra motivation Edwards' side might have needed was handed to them on a plate, though, by an ill-fated social media post from Watford's official X account.
Luton fans are often ridiculed by other supporters over the state of their Kenilworth Road Stadium - and to be fair, away fans do have to go through what looks like someone back garden to get in - but that is usually kept as light-hearted banter between fans.
Watford's social media team took it upon themselves to make a video montage of Kenilworth Road and the surrounding areas looking less-than-desirable before captioning it 'Taking in the sights'.
This prompted mixed reactions from supporters online and once it had been posted you got the feeling it was a lose-lose situation for the visitors - either they get beat and very much embarrassed or they look poor for 'taking the mick' out of a working-class football club.
Of course, as pretty much anyone who keeps up with football and social media might have predicted, Luton went on to thrash Watford 3-0 and claim bragging rights until the two sides meet again.
The whole debacle made for a good laugh, with the post majorly backfiring and bringing lots of entertaining responses online.
Isidor sends Sunderland top
We were forced to wait until Sunday afternoon for this weekend's Goal of the Week - but what a lovely effort it was from Sunderland striker Wilson Isidor.
The Frenchman bagged his third of the season as the Black Cats secured a 1-0 win away at Hull to return to the top of the league, proving his worth as Sunderland's starting number nine once more.
Hull had been dominating the second half and took a corner to the edge of the box, only for referee Bobby Madley to slow down their attack by getting in the way, which allowed the opposition to pounce.
Isidor received the ball in his own half and ran almost the length of the pitch, ghosting past a Hull defender before chipping the goalkeeper with a lovely finish.
Colwill makes his mark
This time, our Player of the Week goes to Cardiff midfielder Rubin Colwill, who grabbed a goal and two assists in their 5-0 thrashing of Plymouth.
The youngster earned a Flashscore player rating of 9.8 which was by far the highest of any in the division this week.
Take a look at our full Top XI based on our player ratings system:
Full results:
Sheffield Wednesday 0-2 Burnley
Middlesbrough 0-2 Bristol City
