Leeds United moved back to the top of the Championship with a comfortable 3-0 victory over Luton Town at Elland Road.
Sam Byram gave the home side an early lead when he reacted quickest to volley into the far corner after seeing his initial shot blocked. Joel Piroe made it 2-0 from close range in first-half injury-time after Pascal Struijk’s header from a corner was parried by Thomas Kaminski.
Dan James completed the scoring in the 81st minute by lobbing Kaminski, taking Daniel Farke’s side back above Yorkshire rivals Sheffield United in the table on goal difference. Burnley and Sunderland are both two points behind in third and fourth respectively, while Luton are 16th, but just three points off the bottom three.
Blackburn climbed to within two points of opponents Middlesbrough in the playoff places with a 1-0 win at the Riverside Stadium. Todd Cantwell had a goal disallowed for offside in the 72nd minute but soon after set up Dominic Hyam, who also looked offside, to tap home the only goal of the game from close range.
Queens Park Rangers moved off the bottom of the table after a 2-0 win at fellow strugglers Cardiff, their first victory in 13 league games. Zan Celar, who missed a penalty in the draw against Stoke last Saturday, scored his first goal for the club with a superb turn and finish shortly before half-time and sealed the win on the counter-attack in injury time.
A thumping finish inside the first two minutes from Zan Vipotnik set Swansea on their way to a 2-1 win at Derby. Ronald doubled Swansea’s lead with a smart finish in the 14th minute and the visitors held on for the win after Nathaniel Mendez-Laing converted a 65th-minute penalty, awarded for Cyrus Christie fouling Tom Barkhuizen in the area.
Portsmouth’s home game with Millwall was postponed after Fratton Park was plunged into darkness for 40 minutes. Just 11 minutes before the scheduled 7.45pm kick-off, all the lights went out at the south coast ground as fans entertained themselves by using torches on their phones and chanting.
The lights returned at 8.15pm and players returned to the pitch to warm up 25 minutes later, but the match was called off for “safety reasons” shortly after, with the announcement met by loud boos. A Portsmouth statement read: “Tonight’s match against Millwall has been postponed for safety reasons due [to] circumstances beyond the club’s control.”
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Later, the Portsmouth chief executive, Andrew Cullen, said he was “disappointed and upset” after Pompey’s second postponement in five days. “I totally regret … but it was the only logical decision we had at that time. There is more to it than the 22 players on the pitch and we didn’t have the confidence that we could get through the whole game with other lighting not working in the stands.”
The Millwall manager, Neil Harris, said: “The football club here and the officials have been outstanding. We all wanted to get the game on but health and safety comes first. It has been a long day for us … I feel for both sets of fans. Obviously they will get a refund or get the chance to come to the next game but that doesn’t cover their travel.”
