Grant breaks QPR hearts
Friday evening saw West Brom and Coventry mount the pressure on their title rivals as they both picked up three points to move level on points at the top of the league before Saturday’s fixtures.
West Brom saw off QPR with a 2-1 victory, however it was a fast start from QPR that saw Andre Gray beat the offside trap to calmly slot past Sam Johnstone to put the the Hoops ahead within the first minute.
Chances would fall for West Brom throughout the game, an Adam Reach diving header being the best of those, which was denied by a brilliant instinctive stop on the line from Seny Dieng.
The Baggies would have to wait until the 75th minute for something to cheer about; a low strike into the bottom left corner from Karlan Grant appeared to be too powerful for Dieng in goal, who after initially stopping the strike fumbled the ball into the goal.
Late drama would then follow, with West Brom winning the ball back on the halfway line, which led to more slick build up between Callum Robinson and Jordan Hugill before Karlan Grant was put through to slot home for his second of the day and give West Brom the winner in the 88th minute.
Nothing but 𝗽𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗲𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 🔥
Love it, @karlangrant 💙 pic.twitter.com/MCSNnaGU9l
— West Bromwich Albion (@WBA) September 25, 2021
Coventry riding high
Coventry continued their strong start to the season with a 3-0 win over struggling Peterborough.
FULL-TIME: Sky Blues 3-0 Peterborough United
A brace for Gyokeres and a goal for Gus Hamer secure all three points!!!!
[3-0] #PUSB pic.twitter.com/KfwiCidbjZ
— Coventry City (@Coventry_City) September 24, 2021
Coventry’s pressure would tell in the second half when the floodgates opened with the Sky Blues scoring three goals in seven minutes to seal the three points, with Ben Hamer and a Viktor Gyoekeres brace providing the goals.
Bournemouth move back top, while Derby’s troubles continue
Bournemouth also continued their unbeaten start to the season with a 2-1 victory over Luton Town, putting them back top of the league following West Brom and Coventry’s victories on Friday.
Phillip Billing and Dominic Solanke continued their prolific starts to the season, both netting in the first half to give Bournemouth a comfortable 2-0 lead at the interval.
A nervous second half for Bournemouth saw Luton pull one back through Reece Burke turning in Luke Berry’s cross.
However, Bournemouth were able to hold on to take keep all three points on the coast.
Derby County will feel like the whole world is against them following their week to forget, having gone into administration and given a points deduction.
Billy Sharp’s 90th minute penalty winner was the cherry on top to round off a rough week for the Rams.
Billy. Sharp. Scores. Goals. 🐐
Yesterday’s winner. 😍 pic.twitter.com/r2EecNCACn
— Sheffield United (@SheffieldUnited) September 26, 2021
Sheffield United created numerous chances in the game, but failed to capitalise on them, even when Derby went down to 10 men in the 57th minute with goalkeeper Kelle Roos being sent off for bringing down Billy Sharp on the edge of the box preventing a clear goal scoring opportunity.
Billy sharp would then get his third goal of the season to give Sheffield United all three points, however not without some late drama, with Robin Olsen producing a terrific save to turn the ball onto the post to keep the Blades in front.
Brereton Diaz hat trick sees Blackburn put five past Cardiff
Blackburn were in top form at home against Cardiff running out 5-1 winners, with Ben Brereton Diaz netting a hat-trick to move to joint top goalscorer so far this season.
Goals from Sam Gallagher and two from Brereton saw Blackburn have the game all but wrapped up with a 3-0 lead at half time before 19 year old Tyrhys Dolan made it four in the 53rd minute.
Sean Morrison gave the travelling Cardiff fans something to cheer about as he headed in Ryan Giles’ corner to grab a consolation goal.
The Chile international then converted from the spot in the 90th minute to complete his hat trick and top off a perfect weekend for the striker and Blackburn.
The win sees Blackburn sit in sixth in the league after a strong start to the season.
Other results
Fulham dropped to fourth in the table following a frustrating 1-1 draw away at Bristol City, where they had 22 attempts.
The result meant Fulham had failed to win for the second successive weekend.
There were also wins for Reading, Stoke and Swansea over the weekend, who all kept clean sheets in the process.
Stoke’s win saw them go fifth, whilst Reading have now won three on the trot.
Swansea’s victory over Huddersfield hurts their promotion chase, as they have fallen three points behind Blackburn in sixth.
Birmingham vs Preston and Nottingham Forest vs Millwall both ended level.
How it stands
This is how the table looks after nine games:
As it stands in the #SkyBetChampionship…#EFL pic.twitter.com/VhwXoNaZLK
— Sky Bet Championship (@SkyBetChamp) September 25, 2021
