Leeds United closed the gap on Championship leaders Sunderland after Regis Le Bris' side collapsed at home to Coventry City on Saturday.

Daniel Farke's side moved to within two points of Sunderland after coasting to a 2-0 victory over Queens Park Rangers at Elland Road.

Jayden Bogle sliced home after 19 minutes for Leeds, who made sure of victory in stoppage time as Joel Piroe came off the bench to score.

There was no such success for Sunderland despite Wilson Isidor and Dennis Cirkin both finding the net in the first half at the Stadium of Light.

Haji Wright pulled one back for Coventry, who dismissed long-term boss Mark Robins this week, just past the hour before Jack Rudoni snatched a 2-2 comeback draw with six minutes remaining.

At the other end of the table, Portsmouth managed just their second victory of the season with a 3-1 triumph over Preston North End at Fratton Park.

Josh Murphy and Connor Ogilvie were both on target in the first half before Colby Bishop's late penalty sealed victory after Emil Riis Jakobsen had reduced the deficit for Paul Heckingbottom's visitors.

Victory moved Portsmouth up to 23rd in the league, two points ahead of bottom side QPR and within three points of safety.

Fellow strugglers Plymouth Argyle also gained a point as Adam Randell's 41st-minute strike cancelled out Jerry Yates' early opener for Derby County at Pride Park.

The 1-1 draw leaves Wayne Rooney's side 16th in the table, but just one point clear of the relegation zone, while Derby sit comfortably 12th.

Norwich City dropped down the table in Saturday's other game, suffering their first home defeat in the league in 22 games after a 2-0 reverse against Bristol City at Carrow Road.

Anis Mehmeti and Nakhi Wells scored in either half for Liam Manning's visitors, who moved into 10th with a victory that left them just two points shy of the play-off positions.

Sheffield United moved into the Championship's automatic promotion places with a 2-0 win over Blackburn Rovers, with Harrison Burrows and Tyrese Campbell on target.

Burrows scored his first goal for the Blades to hand them a 16th-minute lead at Ewood Park, where Blackburn failed to record a single shot on target against their rock-solid visitors.

A close-range finish from Campbell gave Chris Wilder's men breathing space shortly after the hour mark, with Kieffer Moore, Gustavo Hamer and Burrows all missing chances to add further gloss to the scoreline.

Sheffield United, who have only conceded six goals in 13 league games this campaign, moved up to second ahead of Saturday's remaining fixtures, leapfrogging Burnley and Leeds United. 

Elsewhere, Stoke City claimed a much-needed 2-1 victory over Derby County – just their second win under new boss Narcis Pelach. 

Tom Cannon won and converted a first-half penalty to put the Potters ahead, though Derby got back on terms when the ball deflected in off Stoke goalkeeper Viktor Johansson after 68 minutes. 

However, Ben Gibson headed the winning goal eight minutes from time, with Derby enraged by Junior Tchamadeu's heavy challenge on Nat Phillips going unpunished. 

In the last of the early kick-offs, Swansea City recorded their first win in seven matches by overcoming Oxford United 2-1 at the Kassam Stadium.

Zan Vipotnik swept home after 38 minutes for Swansea's first goal in 563 minutes of Championship action to open the scoring, then Florian Bianchini doubled their advantage with 10 minutes to play.

Dane Scarlett gave Oxford hope late on, but they were unable to force an equaliser and remain two points clear of the relegation zone.

Norwich City climbed to within one place of the Championship play-off spots following a 3-2 victory away at Derby County and a hat-trick from Borja Sainz.

The result ended a run of nine straight home wins in the league for Derby, and it was the first time they have been beaten at Pride Park since February. Norwich, meanwhile, have now won three of their last four matches.

Norwich took the lead in the first half through Sainz in controversial circumstances, with the ball looking as if it had gone out of play during the build-up to the goal.

But Derby would not go down without a fight, equalising through Craig Forsyth on his 300th career appearance, as he fired past Angus Gunn from eight yards.

Just five minutes later, Norwich were back in front with Sainz hitting a bouncing ball from outside of the box and the Spaniard secured his hat-trick with another three minutes from time.

Derby got one back in stoppage time through Corey Blackett-Taylor, but were unable to force an equaliser.

Elsewhere, Sheffield Wednesday beat league leaders West Bromwich Albion 3-2 at Hillsborough to win for the first time in the league since the opening day.

Danny Rohl’s side were one up after nine minutes, with Darnell Furlong deflecting Marvin Johnson's effort past his goalkeeper. Josh Windass doubled their lead in the 23rd minute.

The Baggies got back into it after the hour, with Josh Maja heading in from a deep cross for his seventh goal of the season, and substitute Alex Mowatt dragged them level in the 84th minute.

But two minutes later, Anthony Musaba put Wednesday back in front for a lead they would maintain for the remainder of the match. The hosts climb to 16th, two points above the bottom three.

Blackburn Rovers maintained their 100% home record in the league with a 2-0 victory over QPR, who had Jonathan Varane, the half-brother of former Real Madrid and Manchester United defender Raphael Varane, sent off in first-half stoppage time for a late lunge on Danny Batth.

John Eustace's side struck twice in the second half to ensure their strong form rolled on.

West Brom went back to the top of the Championship with a 1-0 victory over Wayne Rooney’s struggling Plymouth Argyle.

The Baggies were made to wait until the 62nd minute before opening the scoring through Josh Maja, and it was a goal that came against the run of play.

Plymouth had started the second half better, but were unable to make their chances count before Maja's tap-in ultimately settled it.

The victory is a fifth in six matches and fourth in a row for Carlos Corberan’s side, who reclaimed first place from Sunderland and have opened a three-point gap to third-placed Burnley. Plymouth, meanwhile, are 20th and just one point above the relegation zone.

Elsewhere, Leeds United moved into the top six following a 2-0 win away to 10-man Cardiff City, who are bottom of the table.

Defender Joel Bagan was sent off for the hosts after 23 minutes after he was adjudged to have been the last man after a challenge on Willy Gnonto.

It got even worse for Cardiff seven minutes later as Largie Ramazani scored his first Leeds goal.

Cardiff goalkeeper Jak Alnwick saved Pascal Struijk's second-half penalty, but an effort from former Swansea City striker Joel Piroe on 87 minutes wrapped up the points for Daniel Farke's side. Cardiff boss Erol Bulut, meanwhile, looks under increasing pressure.

Burnley snatched a 94th-minute winner at home to Portsmouth, having initially gone a goal down.

Callum Lang's first-half goal had Pompey ahead at half-time, but Jeremy Sarmiento equalised in the second period before Brownhill nicked a winner, leaving the Clarets third and Portsmouth second-bottom.

And Sheffield United are up to fourth after a 1-0 win over Derby County at Bramall Lane.

The Blades got the winner after 53 minutes through Gus Hamer, with Derby dropping to ninth on nine points from six matches.

Sunderland defeated Burnley 1-0 at the Stadium of Light to stop their opponents' winning start to the 2024-25 Championship season and maintain their own perfect record.

Both teams had won two games from two heading into Saturday's contest - Burnley scoring a combined nine goals - which was settled by Romaine Mundle's drive after 26 minutes.

Dan Neil was sent off late on for a second booking, but Burnley could not find a response as they tasted a first loss under manager Scott Parker.

Elsewhere in the late Championship kick-offs, Watford also made it nine points from nine as they recovered to beat Derby County 2-1.

Vakoun Bayo's superb strike cancelled out Ebou Adams' second-minute opener at Vicarage Road, before captain Moussa Sissoko grabbed a winner in the second half.

West Brom and Blackburn Rovers also remain unbeaten through three matches after beating Stoke City and Oxford United 2-1 respectively.

Karlan Grant and Josh Maja scored either side of Lewis Koumas's equaliser at the Bet365 Stadium, with both West Brom goals assisted by Tom Fellows.

Substitute Arnor Sigurdsson was the late hero for Blackburn, meanwhile, after Joe Rankin-Costello had earlier cancelled out Mark Harris's sublime opener.

In the other games, Tommy Conway's 90th-minute penalty denied Portsmouth a first win of the season as Middlesbrough snatched a 2-2 draw at the Riverside.

Norwich City and Sheffield United played out a 1-1 draw, meanwhile, and Preston North End beat Luton Town 1-0 in manager Paul Heckingbottom's first game.

Luton Town survived more than an hour with 10 men as they drew 0-0 with newly promoted Portsmouth to claim their first points of the campaign on Saturday. 

Thomas Kaminski was given his marching orders in the 31st minute following two missed-timed challenges on Paddy Lane and Connor Ogilvie in quick succession. 

But Pompey failed to make their man advantage count, with only six of their 15 attempts on target as well as having 66.5% possession. 

Rob Edwards' side did have their opportunities, however, missing four big chances, with the best of those falling to Elijah Adebayo, registering an xG of 0.51 from his three shots. 

Meanwhile, at the Hawthorns, Leeds United remain winless in their first two Championship games as they were held to a goalless draw away to West Brom.  

Daniel Farke's side suffered an early exit in the Carabao Cup to Middlesbrough earlier this week, and struggled once again in front of goal at the Hawthorns. 

Leeds registered just one shot on target from the eight they attempted in the West Midlands, with that effort coming from Ethan Ampadu 10 minutes into the second half. 

The Baggies opened their season with a 3-1 win over QPR, with Josh Maja netting a hat-trick, but he proved ineffective this time around, registering an expected goals (xG) of just 0.03 from his one shot on target. 

Meanwhile, at Pride Park, Kayden Jackson scored the only goal of the early kick-offs as Derby beat Middlesbrough 1-0 for their first win of the campaign. 

Jackson, who arrived from Ipswich in the transfer window, pounced on a mistake by Isaiah Jones before rounding Seny Dieng to give the Rams a 14th minute lead. 

But Michael Carrick's side's wastefulness in front of goal proved to be their downfall, underperforming their xG by 1.73 with only four of their 20 shots on target. 

Middlesbrough have now only scored once in their last four away league games against Derby, with the goal coming in a 2-1 loss back in 2021 under Neil Warnock.

Sheffield United kickstarted their quest for an immediate return to the Premier League with a comfortable 2-0 win over Preston North End at Deepdale. 

Oliver Arblaster would net the Championship's first goal of the season with 12 minutes on the clock as his deflected effort wrong-footed Freddie Woodman. 

In a half that only saw seven attempts from either side, a moment of magic from Gustavo Hamer after the interval would secure Chris Wilder's men the win. 

Hamer, who scored nine goals in his last campaign in the second tier with Coventry, intercepted Woodman's throw out from the back, taking a touch before lobbing the North End goalkeeper. 

The Blades will be looking for an improved display when they face QPR next weekend, recording an expected goals (xG) total of just 0.19 from their 10 shots. 

Meanwhile, in the other game taking place, Blackburn recorded their biggest opening day win in 21 years after beating newly-promoted Derby County 4-2 at Ewood Park. 

Tyrhys Dolan gave the hosts the lead in the 19th minute, firing the ball into the roof of the net after the Rams failed to clear Makhtar Gueye's cross into the area. 

The visitors would draw level in the second half as Curtis Nelson powered a header beyond Aynsley Pears, but their joy was short-lived. 

Two goals in four minutes from substitute Andreas Weimann and last season's Golden Boot winner Sammie Szmodics put John Eustace's side back in the driving seat. 

Rovers' new signing Yuki Ohashi would put the game beyond doubt with a delicate chipped finish, with Kane Wilson netting a late consolation for the Rams. 

Derby County sealed a Championship return by beating already-relegated Carlisle United 2-0 at Pride Park on the final day of the League One season.

Derby knew a single point would end their two-year stay in the third tier of English football, with Bolton Wanderers waiting to pounce if the Rams did suffer a shock defeat.

However, such a slip-up never looked likely as Max Bird's powerful strike from outside the area put them ahead within five minutes, and James Collins added a close-range second on the hour mark to make certain of promotion.

Paul Warne's team finished five points behind Portsmouth, who clinched the title earlier this month, and five clear of Bolton – who needed a late equaliser from Cameron Jerome to draw 3-3 with Peterborough. 

Bolton will face Barnsley in the play-offs as the Tykes were not punished for their 1-1 draw with Northampton Town, defeats for Blackpool and Lincoln City denying them the chance to gatecrash the top six.

Fourth-placed Peterborough will face Oxford United in the other play-off semi-final, as the U's clinched a 2-1 win over Exeter City to claim fifth place in the final reckoning. 

Three of the four relegation places had already been decided before Saturday's matches, with Carlisle, Port Vale, and Fleetwood Town on their way to League Two.

Cheltenham will join them after Nick Freeman struck a 90th-minute winner in their 2-1 loss at Stevenage. Darrell Clarke's side needed a win to save themselves and send Burton Albion down in their place, but they were hit with a late sucker punch as their three-year stay in League One came to an end. 

Derby moved to the brink of promotion to the Championship after a 1-0 win at Cambridge.

Nathaniel Mendez-Laing’s goal shortly before half-time leaves Paul Warne’s side needing one point at home to bottom club Carlisle next weekend to go up.

Cambridge will be safe if they win either of their two remaining games, or if Cheltenham fail to win both of theirs.

U’s keeper Will Mannion tipped Louie Sibley’s corner onto the bar early on, while at the other end Joe Wildsmith saved well from Macauley Bonne in the 15th minute.

Mendez-Laing nearly scored in spectacular style after 38 minutes, seeing his superb curler from nearly 30 yards come back off the bar, but he only had to wait a few seconds before putting the Rams ahead.

Sibley played Mendez-Laing in behind the defence, and he rounded keeper Mannion outside the box before firing into an empty net.

Cambridge came on strong after the break, with Jordan Cousins firing just wide from distance and Ryan Bennett seeing a shot blocked.

Ebou Adams scored his first goal for Derby to boost their automatic promotion hopes with a 1-0 win over Blackpool.

Derby went with an attacking formation but the first clear chance fell to Blackpool in the 29th minute, with George Byers scuffing a shot wide from 15 yards.

It brought an instant response from Nathaniel Mendez-Laing, whose curling shot was touched behind by Daniel Grimshaw and the corner was almost forced in at the near post.

But Grimshaw could do nothing in the 40th minute when a cross was half cleared to Adams, who scored with a first-time shot from the edge of the area.

Derby should have added a second in the 55th minute when Mendez-Laing put Conor Washington through on the right but he failed to beat Grimshaw.

Blackpool almost took advantage in the 71st minute through a Sonny Carey free-kick which Rams keeper Joe Wildsmith clawed away.

There was another late scare for Derby when Kyle Joseph twice had goalbound shots blocked by Curtis Nelson and Eiran Cashin.

Derby’s promotion hopes were dealt a major blow as they suffered a narrow 1-0 League One defeat at midtable Northampton.

The Cobblers’ first win in six games – and their first ever over Derby – came thanks to Sam Hoskins’ first-half strike, his 15th goal of the season.

Derby dominated possession early on and they should taken a 20th-minute lead but Martyn Waghorn side-footed the ball over with the goal at his mercy.

Northampton struck against the run of play midway through the first half when Louis Appere chased down a long ball and showed brilliant vision to pick out Hoskins, who volleyed first time into the bottom corner.

The visitors responded well but they could not find a leveller before half-time despite Ebou Adams twice going close, first denied by Sam Sherring’s goal-line clearance and then heading over when well placed.

Nathaniel Mendez-Laing almost converted Kane Wilson’s cross after the restart before Manny Monthe hit the post at the other end.

Derby applied plenty of late pressure but could find no way through Northampton’s resilient rearguard and their misery was compounded by a straight red card for Sonny Bradley in stoppage-time.

Derby head coach Paul Warne applauded goalkeeper Joe Wildsmith for his part in a crucial 1-0 victory over League One promotion rivals Bolton.

Wildsmith made several outstanding saves before Kane Wilson’s header settled a tense contest at a packed Pride Park.

Bolton will look back on several moments, notably when Jon Dadi Bodvarsson’s 17th-minute header was brilliantly saved by Wildsmith.

Bodvarsson was again denied by Wilsdmith early in the second half and George Thomason saw his curling shot in the 64th minute turned behind.

Wildsmith’s reactions were rewarded when Wilson scored with Derby’s first effort on target in the 78th minute, clinching a victory that took County four points clear of Bolton with seven games to play.

Warne said: “Joe pulled us out, we congratulated him after the game which is unheard of, managers congratulating goalkeepers, but he pulled off two unbelievable saves.

“One in the first half from a header, as soon as the cross came in I just thought it was going to hit the net so that’s a great save and one in the second half as well, so Joe has been part of a decent team performance.

“We just had enough to win. There wasn’t anything in it really. Joe made two great saves and it always felt like it was going to come down to one set piece. In really tight games a set piece goal can win you it and today it did.

“If I was in the other dressing room I’d be disappointed that I wasn’t leaving with a point because I thought the game probably was a draw, but to win and keep a clean sheet is crucial.”

Bolton manager Ian Evatt is not giving up hope of earning automatic promotion.

“It’s not over, there’s a lot of football to be played, we have to stay calm and keep the faith,” he said.

“Nobody in the stadium could agree that Derby deserved to win the game. We were completely dominant. I think it was the first time in our final third second half with the corner and we’ve conceded a poor goal.

“I’m proud of the way the players played, obviously the result matters and it makes it more difficult for us, but there’s loads of football to be played and a long way to go.

“We had the better chances, their keeper is probably man of the match which speaks volumes. Football isn’t fair sometimes, but the most important thing for us is to keep believing.”

Derby boss Paul Warne hailed Dwight Gayle’s ability to make “a massive difference” after his first goal for a year helped promotion-chasing County beat Port Vale 3-0 at Pride Park.

The 34-year-old striker, who joined Derby last month as a free agent after leaving Stoke, opened his Rams account to make it 2-0 on the stroke of half-time – just as Vale were starting to cause the home side some problems.

Derby had made a lively start and went ahead in the fourth minute through Louie Sibley, whose shot took a big deflection to beat Connor Ripley.

The Vale goalkeeper denied Derby a second in the 11th minute with a double save from Nathaniel Mendez-Laing and Max Bird and the visitors had a good period before Gayle pounced in the 44th minute.

Ebou Adams provided the cross and Gayle planted a header from 12 yards into the bottom right corner, and Derby sealed victory in the 58th minute through Sibley’s powerful finish.

Warne recognised the importance of Gayle’s first goal since he scored for Stoke on March 4th last year.

He said: “It was nice Dwight got his first goal, I think he’s scored in every league now.

“I’ve said all along you are only ever as good in any game as your goalkeeper and your centre-forward, and if your centre-forward can get a yard in the box and get a goal at a crucial time it makes a massive difference.

“It will give him a right boost, it will do him no end of good. We know he’s rusty but we also know that he can definitely play at this level and he’s another threat for us.

“Some of his touches today were good again and he’s taken a little bit more rust off. It’s obviously great that Dwight scores because all strikers want to score.

“It was nice to get the second goal just before half-time, it made the lads happier in the dressing room but I wasn’t really happy, I was disappointed.

“We had put ourselves under pressure and seemed to panic with three players going for the same ball but I thought in the second half we were comfortable.”

Derby’s win kept them second in League One, seven points behind leaders Portsmouth, while Vale remain deep in trouble at the other end of the table after suffering an eighth defeat in 11 league matches since their last win.

Vale manager Darren Moore said: “We gave ourselves a mountain to climb conceding an early goal. The manner of the goal wasn’t very good but I just thought in the game after we had that early setback we never really condensed the pitch.

“I think the difficult thing was the two goals, one in the first five minutes and then the other just before half-time, that was probably the most disappointing one because 2-0 is a damaging blow.

“There is a little bit of naivety with us, our mindset can be better, needs to be better, will be better because we get some time to work with them on the training ground this week.”

Derby boss Paul Warne admitted his team did not look like a promotion side after they were beaten 2-1 at home by strugglers Charlton.

For the second time in four days, Derby lost after going in front and Warne knows they have to improve to have a chance of going up.

Derby had a lot of possession in the first half and went ahead in the 39th minute when Eiran Cashin headed in a corner.

But it was different in the second and a rush of blood from goalkeeper Joe Wildsmith allowed Charlton to draw level.

Wildsmith brought down Daniel Kanu and Alfie May sent him the wrong way with the resulting penalty.

Another mistake gave Charlton their first win since November when Ebou Adams let Kanu in and although Wildsmith blocked his shot, Karoy Anderson scored his first senior goal with the rebound.

“Very frustrated, I thought the first 20 minutes our play was really good without creating clearcut openings and I was really pleased with how we played first half,” Warne said.

“Second half we didn’t start as well and there’s a massive turning point. Joe’s held his hands up, but it’s a mistake.

“That was disappointing from our point of view and then another mistake in the middle of the pitch and they punished that.

“It isn’t a performance of a team that’s going to get promoted and that isn’t the level of performance that we expect.

“We have shot ourselves in the foot no end of times this season at home, more so than away, and tonight we got punished for our mistakes, and we have to be better if we are going to be successful.

“We didn’t have enough, that’s the honest truth. It’s really disappointing because in a position like that with so few games left, you need to see games out and manage them better.

“We didn’t have enough great performances in the second half to justify the three points.”

Charlton manager Nathan Jones admitted his side’s half-time team-talk was the catalyst for t

“It was a game of two halves,” the Welsh boss said. “The first half, we were nowhere near the levels we demand. We were tentative, we weren’t aggressive enough and we allowed Derby to do certain things we didn’t want them to do.

“We had a few words at half-time and in the second half I thought we were outstanding. We over-ran them, we were aggressive and I’m really proud of the second-half performance.

“And that’s what they’ve got to learn, they haven’t won for a long time, so we are having to cross milestones in terms of things, but that second-half performance was everything I wanted from my team.

“Now we are showing form that can take us forward.”

Louie Sibley’s last-minute winner gave Derby a 1-0 home victory over stubborn Stevenage to boost their automatic promotion hopes in League One.

With top scorer James Collins out with a knee injury, Derby lacked a presence up front but Sibley finally found a way through in the last minute of normal time.

The victory moved Derby three points clear of third-placed Bolton.

It was Stevenage who came closest to scoring in a goalless first half.

Joe Wildsmith missed a corner and Sonny Bradley had to clear off the line in the 31st minute and Wildsmith rescued Derby soon after when the hosts failed to deal with a long throw and the goalkeeper stopped Jordan Roberts’ shot on the turn.

Derby did not register a shot on goal in the first half and they continued to struggle until Kane Wilson surged forward in the 68th minute and played Nathaniel Mendez-Laing in but he fired wide.

Max Bird was denied by a superb Taye Ashby-Hammond save in the 77th minute but Derby struck late on.

Mendez-Laing cut in from the right and set up Sibley who finished first time from 12 yards.