Abu Kamara ended a difficult week with two goals as struggling Hull claimed a breathless 3-3 draw at home to Leeds, the league leaders.
Kamara apologised on Friday for posting “wrongly timed” emojis on former club Portsmouth’s Instagram account after Hull’s defeat to Middlesbrough on New Year’s Day. But redemption was as satisfying as it was dramatic as he bookended the scoring with a lovely early lob over a stranded Illan Meslier before scoring a precise shot after 89 minutes.
When Ao Tanaka let fly from the edge of the penalty area after 47 minutes to make it 1-1 the visitors seemingly had the momentum. Dan James seized on desperate defending to score at the back post on 62 minutes, after which Leeds went 3-1 up when Joel Piroe battered home a third.
João Pedro dragged Hull back into the game late on when Meslier patted the ball back into play instead of tipping it over the bar and then came Kamara’s dramatic intervention.
Second-placed Burnley are a point behind Leeds after beating Blackburn 1-0 in the East Lancashire derby, while Sheffield United are level with second-placed Burnley, and one point behind Leeds, after a 2-1 win over Watford at Vicarage Road. A superb Andre Brooks curler reignited their automatic promotion challenge after one point from their previous three games. The defeat was a third in a row for Watford.
Quick GuideLeague One: Blues on top as Chairboys held
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Alfie May scored twice as Birmingham returned to winning ways and climbed to the top of League One with a comfortable 3-0 victory over Wigan. May struck his 10th and 11th goals of the season in the first half-hour to give the Blues a 2-0 lead at the break before Willum Thor Willumsson sealed the points with a third.
Three points was enough to take the Blues above previous leaders Wycombe, who conceded a last-minute goal to draw 1-1 at home to Blackpool. Richard Kone gave the Chairboys the lead from the penalty spot but after Alex Hartridge was shown a second yellow card, Kyle Joseph equalised deep into stoppage time.
Wrexham manager Phil Parkinson’s 1,000th game in football management ended in a 1-0 victory against Peterborough. Steven Fletcher’s late header ensured the hosts moved level on points with Wycombe and two behind Birmingham. Jon Russell, Max Watters and Davis Keillor-Dunn all scored as Barnsley made it four successive wins with a 3-0 victory over Crawley.
The Tykes are within two points of fourth-placed Huddersfield, who were held to a goalless draw by Rotherham and had debutant Ruben Roosken sent off in the late stages. Leyton Orient made it five wins in a row by overcoming struggling Shrewsbury 1-0 thanks to Tottenham loanee Jamie Donley’s winner.
Stockport‘s winless run extended to four games as they lost 2-1 to Mansfield, while Aaron Morley marked his return to Bolton from his loan spell with a stoppage-time winner in their 2-1 triumph at Exeter. Charlton‘s meeting with sixth-placed Reading at the Valley ended goalless.
Sam Hoskins’ heavily deflected 86th-minute strike handed Kevin Nolan his first win in charge of Northampton as they beat bottom side Burton 1-0. Bristol Rovers claimed their first win under Iñigo Calderón with a 1-0 victory over fellow strugglers Cambridge, while Lincoln stopped a run of three straight defeats with a 0-0 draw against Stevenage. PA Media
Chris Brunt, West Brom’s interim manager, said his side’s 1-1 draw at Swansea felt like a loss after they had led until the 93rd minute. Joe Allen popped up in the six-yard box to head home an equaliser that earned Swansea another late point – Myles Peart-Harris struck an added-time winner in the 2-1 victory over Luton in their previous home game. Tom Fellows looked to have given the Baggies victory with his 66th-minute strike.
“There are good draws and bad draws and that’s probably a bad draw for us. Everyone is gutted in the changing room,” said Brunt. “There were a few tired bodies out there and unfortunately we just couldn’t deal with that last ball into our box.”
Calum Chambers’s first goal in 34 months boosted Cardiff’s chances of survival by earning a 1-1 draw at promotion hopefuls Middlesbrough. Chambers curled in a fine equaliser in the 21nd minute against his former club to cancel out Emmanuel Latte Lath’s 10th of the season that had arrived nine minutes earlier. It was the experienced defender’s first goal since finding the net for Aston Villa in March 2022, and helped Cardiff stretch their unbeaten run to three games.
Substitute Amankwah Forson scored twice in stoppage time to earn Norwich a scarcely believable 2-1 win over Coventry at Carrow Road. Frank Lampard’s side looked to be taking all three points thanks to a well-taken first-half goal from Milan van Ewijk, but were stunned as their hosts turned the game on its head at the death. Forson took centre stage, curling home from just outside the area to level and then finishing off a late break with an emphatic finish to send the home crowd wild. A third win in four games took the Canaries to within four points of the playoff zone as the Sky Blues slipped to a first defeat in four under Lampard.
Luke McNally’s first-half strike proved enough for Bristol City to maintain their recent impressive home form with a 1-0 victory over Derby at Ashton Gate. The winner came in the 19th minute when Nahki Wells was fouled 30 yards from goal and Scott Twine’s chipped free-kick into the penalty area was volleyed home from close range by centre-back McNally. Derby battled hard without a cutting edge and there were boos from their massed ranks of travelling fans at the final whistle.
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Sheffield Wednesday spurned a golden chance to step up their playoff push as they were forced to settle for a 2-2 draw against Millwall at Hillsborough. Substitute Gabriel Otegbayo equalised in the 85th minute just when it looked like the Lions had done enough to claim three improbable points. Yan Valery fired the Owls into an early lead and they should have been out of sight as Ike Ugbo missed a penalty before three Wednesday players hit the woodwork. Second-half goals from George Honeyman and Ryan Wintle nudged the visitors in front.
Quick GuideLeague Two: Vale end winless run as Salford soar
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Port Vale halted their eight-match winless run with a 2-1 triumph over promotion rivals Doncaster. Goals from Ryan Croasdale and Lorent Tolaj saw Darren Moore’s side move back into the top three as Rovers slipped to sixth. Leaders Walsall saw their game at Cheltenham postponed due to a frozen pitch.
Salford‘s sensational run continued as Hakeeb Adelakun’s first-half goal saw off MK Dons 1-0 to move them up to second place. Former Dons manager Karl Robinson saw his Ammies side extend their winning run to six matches without conceding – their next game is at Manchester City in the FA Cup third round.
David McGoldrick’s double earned Notts County a 2-0 win over lowly Swindon that took them up to fifth. Bradford claimed their third victory in four games with a 3-1 win over fellow play-off chasers Grimsby. Lewis Richards and Alex Pattison struck for the Bantams either side of Richard Smallwood’s penalty.
At the bottom, Accrington, Harrogate and Tranmere all won to move five points clear of the relegation zone. Shaun Whalley scored twice in Stanley’s 2-0 victory at Colchester, Jack Muldoon scored one and set up another as Harrogate ended a seven-match winless run by beating Barrow 2-0, and Tranmere saw off bottom side Carlisle 1-0. PA Media
Will Keane spared Freddie Woodman’s blushes as Preston battled to a 1-1 draw against Oxford. The goalkeeper’s miscued pass allowed Rúben Rodrigues to put Oxford ahead after 21 minutes before Keane’s 69th-minute leveller. Gary Rowett came into this fixture with nine points out of nine from his first three matches as Oxford manager but the U’s were second best for large periods at Deepdale and were lucky to leave with a point.
Mark Robins knows there is work to be done after his first game in charge of Stoke ended in a 0-0 draw against struggling Plymouth. Argyle, who had shipped 35 goals in 13 away games prior to this weekend, battled their way to a point with a hard-earned first clean sheet on the road. Caretaker manager Kevin Nancekivell has now overseen hard-fought back-to-back draws at Plymouth since taking charge after Wayne Rooney’s departure.
“There’s a lot to work on, clearly,’” said Robins. “But when you’re coming into a third game in a week, whoever you’re playing against, it’s really difficult. We created bits and pieces, but there weren’t enough clean strikes of the ball and there weren’t enough clean passes in the penalty area. The boys put a lot of work in.”
