Huddersfield moved five points clear of the Championship relegation zone with a 3-0 Boxing Day win over disappointing Blackburn.
Jaheim Headley’s low strike handed the Terriers a first-half advantage which was added to after the break by Sorba Thomas and Delano Burgzorg as Darren Moore’s side opened up a five-point gap to the bottom three.
Town headed into the encounter sitting just above the drop zone and on a winless run of five matches, while Rovers had lost four out of their last five clashes and sat 14th in the standings.
Following early Blackburn pressure, Thomas collected David Kasumu’s right-wing cross to chest down and slice over from inside the box after four minutes.
At the other end, Niall Ennis had Rovers’ first real chance before the 10-minute mark but fired straight at Town keeper Chris Maxwell.
Ben Wiles rose the highest from Thomas’ corner not long after but Leopold Wahlstedt was untroubled in the Blackburn goal.
Town then went close to taking the lead when Kasumu found Thomas and Wahlstedt showed great reactions to parry to safety.
Rovers winger Arnor Sigurdsson was not far away after latching onto Sammie Szmodics’s lay-off for a sublime curling effort which flew just over.
The chances continue to come and Dominic Hyam diverted Headley’s dangerous low cross over his own goal, before Burgzorg’s mazy and persistent run down the right was eventually snuffed out by Rovers.
The hosts made the breakthrough in the 28th minute when Headley took aim and his low drive went straight under Wahlstedt too easily to put the Terriers in front.
Jack Rudoni rose highest to meet Thomas’ free-kick as Huddersfield sought a second but Wahlstedt was equal to it, while injured Town goalkeeper Maxwell was replaced before half-time by Jacob Chapman for his Championship debut.
Szmodics nearly capped off a flowing Rovers move in stoppage time but curled just over as the hosts led at the break.
After half-time, Blackburn top scorer Szmodics delivered a dangerous cross which just missed the arriving Ennis and Chapman parried behind.
The hosts doubled their lead 10 minutes into the second half when Burgzorg slotted across goal for a free Thomas to bury past Wahlstedt.
Shortly after that, Huddersfield wanted a penalty when Rudoni went down under Wahlstedt’s challenge but replays showed the Rovers stopper clearly got the ball.
It mattered little for Town though as they made it 3-0 in the 68th minute to all but wrap up the win, substitute Josh Koroma putting Burgzorg in and the Huddersfield attacker’s shot slipped under Wahlstedt.
Jake Garrett’s 78th-minute free-kick sailed harmlessly over as Rovers sought to reduce the deficit, with Callum Brittain’s long-range drive also off target as the Terriers held firm to claim three valuable points.
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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