Championship roundup: Southampton fall at Cardiff, Stoke thrash Plymouth
Southampton’s hopes of making it a four-way fight for automatic promotion took a huge hit after Cian Ashford’s stoppage-time strike consigned them to a 2-1 defeat at Cardiff.
Russell Martin’s side appeared to be on their way to a fourth successive win when Joe Aribo gave them a 12th-minute lead. But Cardiff hit back with an equaliser through Famara Diedhiou in the 68th minute and won it six minutes into added time when Ashford’s 30-yard strike was deflected past Alex McCarthy.
Stoke earned a crucial three points in their fight for survival with a crushing 3-0 win over fellow strugglers Plymouth. Ki-Jana Hoever and Million Manhoef gave the Potters a comfortable half-time lead and the substitute, Wouter Burger, swept home in stoppage time to seal all three points for Steven Schumacher’s team against his former side.
Marti Cifuentes said he would sleep soundly after QPR got the vital win they needed against Preston but warned his players not to ease up. Lyndon Dykes’ first-half goal secured a 1-0 victory that takes Rangers to 50 points, six above the relegation zone with matches against Leeds and Coventry to finish the season. Their superior goal difference means their Championship survival will be all but secured if second-bottom Sheffield Wednesday lose at Blackburn on Sunday.
Asked if he believes Saturday’s win will be enough to keep Rangers up, Cifuentes said: “I hope so. Right now it looks like a big step forward. But whatever happens in the next games, I think the kind of mindset – the winning culture we need in this club – means that we are going to try to keep winning until the end of the season.”
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League One: Fleetwood and Port Vale relegated
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Huddersfield’s hopes of staying up took a blow as they were thrashed 4-0 by Swansea at the John Smith’s Stadium. Swansea hit the front in the 73rd minute through Jamal Lowe and that opened the floodgates as Ronald, Jerry Yates and Liam Walsh added further goals to leave Huddersfield two points adrift of the last safe spot.
Birmingham edged further clear of the Terriers with a 0-0 draw at relegated Rotherham in a match that was delayed for over 30 minutes due to a medical emergency in the crowd.
Borja Sainz’s equaliser for Norwich was not enough to seal their Championship playoff spot as they drew 1-1 with Bristol City following Haydon Roberts’ opener.
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League Two: Sutton on the brink
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The former Sunderland striker Duncan Watmore scored against his old side to edge Millwall further away from the relegation zone with a 1-0 win at the Stadium of Light while Hull missed the chance to close the gap on the playoffs as they drew 0-0 with Watford.