Blackburn secured a fourth successive away league victory with a 3-0 drubbing of Stoke.
Scott Wharton’s fourth-minute header – his first Championship strike since October 2022 – handed Rovers an early lead which they never relinquished.
Brighton loanee Andrew Moran added a goal to his earlier assist to spark a late flurry of action.
And the league’s leading marksman Sammie Szmodics rounded off a comprehensive win in stoppage time with his 11th goal of the campaign.
It was a fifth victory in seven league games for Jon Dahl Tomasson’s side while the Potters, who had not conceded in over seven hours of football before the tie, endured a miserable afternoon as their five-match unbeaten run was ended.
Despite their impressive recent defensive record, the hosts could have fallen behind with barely a minute on the stopwatch. Szmodics sprung the offside trap and lifted an effort over Jack Bonham only for it to drop wide of the target.
The early warning sign was not heeded by Stoke, whose hope for a fifth consecutive clean sheet was ended a matter of moments later. A Moran corner was met by the towering Wharton, with his precise header off the woodwork giving Bonham no chance.
A frantic start to the fixture ensued with the Potters twice going close to producing an immediate response.
Daniel Johnson’s low drilled strike was flipped wide by keeper Leopold Wahlstedt before Enda Stevens’ cross was nearly converted by both Dwight Gayle and Luke McNally.
And Stoke continued in their pursuit of a leveller with South Korean youngster Bae Jun-ho trying his luck with a header and an effort from outside the box.
But again, the hosts looked uncharacteristically fragile defensively with Szmodics racing in on goal before prodding narrowly wide.
The in-form forward had another opportunity to double Blackburn’s advantage shortly before the interval, but his mazy run was halted by Bonham.
Alex Neil’s half-time instructions nearly prompted an instant reply after the restart, but an unmarked Wouter Burger headed over the target.
The introduction of Ryan Mmaee, Tyrese Campbell and Wesley tried to inspire a clinical edge, but still the Potters failed to craft a clear sight at goal.
Rovers capitalised with Bonham parrying Jake Garrett’s harmless effort directly into Moran’s path, with the 20-year-old converting on the rebound.
And Blackburn were not finished there as Szmodics raced through on goal, rounded Bonham and converted to add the cherry on top of a fine display.
It brings up four straight away wins in the second tier for the visitors for the first time since 2000-01 – a year in which they won promotion to the Premier League.
Real Madrid hit Twente for seven, five-star Wolfsburg also win big
Real Madrid had six different goalscorers as they trounced Twente 7-0 in the Women's Champions League on Wednesday, while Wolfsburg beat Galatasaray 5-0.
Signe Bruun opened the scoring three minutes into the Group B encounter at the Estadio Alfredo Di Stefano, then Maria Mendez's header gave Madrid a 2-0 half-time lead.
Madrid, who had won one and lost one of their opening two games in the tournament, got a third through Naomie Feller five minutes into the second half, then Caroline Weir made it 4-0 with a brilliant free-kick.
Mendez headed home her second of the encounter shortly after the hour mark, while Oihane Hernandez and Carla Camacho got on the scoresheet late on to complete the rout.
The victory took Madrid second in the Group B standings ahead of Chelsea's trip to Celtic.
Wolfsburg were also convincing victors in Group A, getting off the mark for this season's competition as Rebecka Blomqvist scored a hat-trick in their 5-0 thrashing of Galatasaray.
The Bundesliga side – who failed to pick up a point or score a goal in their opening two matches – had a narrow 1-0 lead at half-time through Joelle Wedemeyer, before Blomqvist took centre-stage in the second period.
She tapped home after Janina Minge struck the crossbar, then added her second goal in the 77th minute and her third six minutes into stoppage time.
Vivien Endemann powered home a fifth for Wolfsburg one minute later, as they provisionally moved within three points of Lyon and Roma ahead of their meeting.
Taylor pleased with City's physical test during Hammarby win
Manchester City head coach Gareth Taylor was pleased with how his team stood up to the physical challenge of Hammarby in their 2-0 Champions League victory on Tuesday.
City's win extended their unbeaten start to the season, having won every game in all competitions following a 2-2 draw against Arsenal on opening day.
“Difficult game for us, physical challenge, a physical team in Hammarby. I think they outnumber us a little bit in terms of size, considering when you look at our midfield. But I thought the girls handled it really well," Taylor said after the game
“I thought we dominated the game. In the early parts we were just a little bit off in our final action. We just needed to speed up a little bit in terms of being on the end of it, and we spoke about that at half-time, and we score with Laura getting into that type of position we’d been talking about.
“[The physicality was something] we were prepared for, but dealing with it is a different thing. Having Bunny [Khadija Shaw] and Alanna [Kennedy] on the pitch, two of our more physical players, is really important, particularly for set-plays.
“At 1-0 we were defending a couple of scenarios like that, Yama [Ayaka Yamashita] making a really good save at one point. Then Aoba [Fujino] got the goal that maybe allowed us to change things up a little bit more, get some people off that we’d like to manage.
“I think the girls have dealt with it really well tonight. We expected it, we thought it would be difficult, and they rose to the challenge.”
The victory leaves City top of their Champions League group with a 100% record after three matches, three points above second-placed Barcelona.
Taylor had made changes to City's starting XI, with Lauren Hemp among the trio to drop out from the weekend and she did not feature in the squad. Ahead of their weekend game against Chelsea, who are second in the WSL, Taylor explained the reasoning behind Hemp's absence.
“We’ve just got an issue with Lauren that we just need to analyse a little bit further, that’s all," he said.
“It’s something that potentially happened in the Palace game [on 3 November]. She was able to play in the Tottenham game [last Friday] but wasn’t able to tonight, so we’ll just take a little bit longer to assess and find out more.
“Hopefully [she can play against Chelsea]. There’s an opportunity there, we’ll just have to take a moment tomorrow, have a good conversation and find out where we’re at with the medical staff.”
Campbell gives Sheffield United victory in Steel City derby, Rodriguez strikes late for Burnley
Sheffield United joined leaders Sunderland at the top of the Championship table after a hard-fought 1-0 win against local rivals Sheffield Wednesday.
After a goalless first half, Tyrese Campbell latched onto a pass from Callum O'Hare and slotted past Wednesday goalkeeper James Beadle for the winner five minutes into the second period.
This was the Blades' sixth consecutive clean sheet at Bramall Lane and their fourth straight win home or away, and sees them go level with Sunderland on 31 points from 15 matches.
Meanwhile, Burnley are four points behind the top two after they snatched a last-gasp 1-0 victory against visitors Swansea City.
Jay Rodriguez's stoppage-time penalty secured the points for the Clarets at Turf Moor, ending their four-match winless run and climbing to fourth in the table.
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