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Sheffield Wednesday 0-5 Coventry, Hull 1-0 Sheffield Utd Boro slip to Pompey defeat, Leicester see off Swansea Frank Lampard praised his side’s stirring second-half display after Coventry went top of the Championship with a 5-0 rout of Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough. Brandon Thomas-Asante scored twice in the first half with Haji Wright adding a third on the stroke of half-time. Ellis Simms and Tatsuhiro Sakamoto struck further goals in the second period to complete a comprehensive victory. There was an on-pitch demonstration from a group of home supporters early on, protesting against the owner, Dejphon Chansiri, which delayed the match for around five minutes. Lampard said: “The early goal helped but made us a bit sloppy through the first half. I think we weren’t quite our usual selves off the ball. Little bits that we had to talk about at half-time. But of course, when you get your goals and we create the amount of chances that we do, then at the moment, the form that we’re in, you’ve got a great chance. It’s a period where we’re playing well. All the work that we do is coming together. ” Commenting on the on-pitch protest, Lampard said: “I very much sympathise with them. I think they’re doing great in the way they’re carrying themselves and even the fans coming on the pitch, in my opinion, is understandable and they came off quickly. I want to say that because this is a great club. ” It was a bruising day for Sheffield, as Wednesday’s rivals United remained bottom of the table after losing 1-0 to Hull. David Akintola gave the Tigers the lead after 30 minutes at the MKM Stadium before the Blades’ Gustavo Hamer shot against the post. Hull sat on their lead for large periods of the second half as Hamer was denied a leveller on more than one occasion, before Ivor Pandur’s late heroics secured the victory, saving a penalty from Harrison Burrows. It was a third league win of the season for Hull, but an eighth defeat for Sheffield United. Chris Wilder admitted his United side failed to make the most of their chances, saying: “When we get into those positions, we have to put teams to bed. We need patience, we need time to work, but players have got to give their heads a shake. At times players have got to find those answers. It’s frustrating for the supporters and for the players. ” Stevenage returned to the top of League One with a 2-0 win over Luton at the Lamex Stadium. Chem Campbell and Jordan Roberts scored in the second half as Stevenage went a point ahead of Bradford, who had drawn with Rotherham on Thursday night. Cardiff moved third – two points off the pace – after battling to a 4-3 win over Leyton Orient following a a chaotic second half. Callum Robinson scored twice for the Welsh side, who had come back from 3-2 down just after the hour. Lincoln lost ground after slipping to a 1-0 home defeat by Exeter after substitute Kevin Mc Donald struck in added time. Danilo Orsi scored twice, his first from the penalty spot, to give Wimbledon a 2-0 win at struggling Blackpool, who reacted by sacking manager Steve Bruce. Bruce had only been in the job a year, but this was their seventh defeat in 11 league games. Stockport won 2-1 at Huddersfield, despite having midfielder Tyler Onyango sent off in the second half for two cautions, to close up on the top six. Mason Burstow scored twice inside the opening 21 minutes as Bolton beat bottom side Peterborough 2-1 at the Toughsheet Community Stadium. Burton battled back to draw 1-1 at Doncaster, where the substitute Tyrese Shade equalised with 20 minutes left, and Reading also came from behind to draw 1-1 with Mansfield. Fraser Murray scored a late equaliser to give Wigan a 1-1 draw at Plymouth, who had led through a 70th-minute penalty from Lorent Tolaj. Wycombe scored late goals through Sam Bell and then the substitute Alex Lowry in stoppage time to snatch a 2-2 draw against Barnsley, while Port Vale and Northampton finished goalless. PA Media Middlesbrough missed the chance to move back to the top of the table after their unbeaten start to the season was ended by a 1-0 defeat at Portsmouth. Boro needed a point to return to the summit following Coventry’s win earlier in the day, but the South Korean winger Yang Min-hyeok’s first-half strike was enough to earn Pompey a first win in five league games. “We showed a lot of puff and got into a lot of good areas, but the final product wasn’t good enough, ” said the Middlesbrough manager, Rob Edwards. “It’s all well and good having a lot more of the ball, but you’ve got to do something with it. One shot on target is not enough, ultimately. Today is a frustrating day. ” Stunning strikes from Jordan James and Abdul Fatawu helped Leicester return to winning ways with a 3-1 victory at Swansea. Wales midfielder James, on loan from Rennes for the season, gave Leicester a 13th-minute lead with his second goal in successive games. Adam Idah equalised from the penalty spot after 70 minutes, his first Swansea goal since joining from Celtic in a deal worth around £6m in September, but Leicester were not to be denied. Fatawu produced another sensational strike seven minutes later and Jannik Vestergaard sealed matters with a close-range header. The win ended a sequence of four consecutive draws for Leicester and moved them up to third in the table. Paul Smyth netted a late winner as QPR came from behind to snatch a 2-1 victory over Bristol City at Ashton Gate. The home side took a 32nd-minute lead when Neto Borges did well to volley a deep Mark Sykes cross from the right back across goal and Emil Riis found himself in space to bury a well-placed header past Paul Nardi. But Rangers hit back when City’s defence failed to deal with a ball into their box from the right and Richard Kone pounced to smash a fierce volley into the roof of the net from 10 yards. The winner came after 84 minutes, Smyth outjumping his marker at the far post to score with a pinpoint header from a right-wing cross by Jimmy Dunne. It meant Rangers stretched their unbeaten run to six games and moved into the top six. Julien Stéphan, QPR’s head coach, stressed it was “very early days” in the season, adding: “We need to stay humble because there is a lot more work to be done if we are to improve further. ” Sign up to Football Daily Kick off your evenings with the Guardian's take on the world of football after newsletter promotion Valérien Ismaël praised substitute Augustus Kargbo’s “perfect” reaction after he put his midweek mistake behind him and fired the equaliser in Blackburn’s 1-1 draw with Stoke. The Sierra Leone international Kargbo came under fire on Tuesday night after he gave the ball away against Swansea and failed to track back as the Swans scored the winning goal. But he came off the bench against Stoke and made his mark on a game Rovers were losing after Million Manhoef’s deflected strike early in the second half gave the Potters the advantage. Kargbo popped up in the 82nd minute to control brilliantly and maintain his composure before finding the bottom corner, and he also smashed an effort against a post late on as Blackburn tried to force a winner. “It’s always about the reaction, ” said Ismaël. “Everyone makes mistakes and it’s important; how is the reaction straight away after the mistake on the pitch? And AK made the perfect reaction we expected from the football player. ” Walsall came from behind to beat Bristol Rovers 2-1 and keep themselves top. Fabrizio Cavegn gave Rovers a first-half lead, but Aaron Pressley struck twice in the closing 20 minutes to secure a hard-earned victory for the Saddlers. Swindon had earlier kept up the pressure with a 1-0 win at strugglers Newport, to sit a point behind in second. Former Wrexham striker Ollie Palmer scored the decisive goal in the 10th minute after being a late call into the side following an injury to leading scorer Aaron Drinan during the warm-up. Grimsby are third after a fast start gave them a 2-0 win at Salford, having raced into an early lead after only 35 seconds through Evan Khouri. Jack Payne scored a first-half hat-trick as Colchester thrashed Chesterfield 6-2 at the Job Serve Community Stadium to end a five-match winless league run. MK Dons held off a fightback from Gillingham to close out a 3-2 win which leaves them in the top six. Cheltenham shrugged off last weekend's 7-1 drubbing by Grimsby with a 2-0 win over Fleetwood, which lifts them off the bottom over Shrewsbury and Newport. The Shrews battled to a goalless draw at Barrow to put them a point ahead of Newport, who earlier suffered an eighth league defeat, while 10-man Bromley held out to draw 3-3 at home against Tranmere. Cambridge beat Crawley 3-1, Notts County saw off Oldham by the same score and Barnet defeated Accrington 2-0 to extend their unbeaten league run to four matches. PA Media Thierry Small scored against his old club as Preston beat Charlton 2-0. The 21-year-old, who was getting token jeers from the away following, responded with a deflected opener in the 67th minute. In a game of attrition on a windy afternoon, Daniel Jebbison scored his first goal for Preston to double the lead late in the second half. Preston’s manager, Paul Heckingbottom, heaped praise on Small, saying: “I’m really glad he was involved in the game. I spoke to him beforehand and said that it’s just another game but it’s different because Thierry is young and excitable. We just wanted him to really focus on his role and what his job was and he went and did it. ”
Heckingbottom also praised Jebbison after the on-loan Bournemouth man got off the mark for the season. “He’ll be delighted, ” he said. “Jebbo’s showed great desire to get on the end of it. I’m really pleased for him. He’s a great lad but I forgot how much he frustrates me. I want to slap him about a bit at times. ” Zak Sturge’s first goal for Millwall capped a 3-0 victory over West Brom that put their midweek hiding at the hands of Coventry behind them. Alex Neil made seven changes in response to his side’s third home loss in four games on Wednesday and what he got from his new-look lineup was a vastly improved showing in both boxes. Jake Cooper lifted the mood with his first-half opener and, after Femi Azeez’s stunning strike doubled their advantage, former Chelsea youngster Sturge rifled in as West Brom were beaten for just the second time this season. “We’ve had some really good performances this year, we just haven’t been clinical at times, ” said Neil. “I think that clinical aspect makes the games look different. Coventry were clinical against us and that’s why the scoreline looked the way it looked, but today we were clinical in good moments. ” Jeremy Ngakia scored two goals in as many first-half minutes to hand Watford another comeback victory as they edged a 2-1 win at home to Oxford. A double from Ngakia – thanks to two blunders from Oxford goalkeeper Jamie Cumming – cancelled out a Max Alleyne own goal, as they went a goal behind for the fourth time in their last six games. The USA international Patrick Agyemang scored his first goal in English football but Derby are still waiting for a home win after they were held 1-1 by Southampton. In an entertaining game full of chances, Adam Armstrong put the visitors ahead before Agyemang pounced late in the first half. On Friday night, Wrexham earned a third successive 1-1 draw, against Birmingham, leading Phil Parkinson to say his side are growing into the division. George Dobson nodded the home side ahead inside 13 minutes, but Patrick Roberts equalised for Birmingham 25 seconds into the second half.