After a busy Saturday afternoon across the top 4 divisions in England, there was drama, huge scorelines and some very late goals.
The Late-Late Show
The Premier League witnessed multiple last-gasp goals thanks to Wolverhampton Wanderers, AFC Bournemouth and Everton, who all snatched an equaliser and took home an important point against their respected opponents.
Brentford and Ipswich will steal the headlines this weekend after they were hosts of a 7-goal thriller at the Gtech Community Stadium. Ipswich found themselves in dreamland, taking a 2-0 lead before Brentford swiftly responded and levelled things before half-time. With just four minutes of the 90 left, Liam Delap met the cross of Leif Davis, making it 3-3. However, in the 96th minute, Bryan Mbuemo scored the winner in the dying seconds of the match to beat 10-man Ipswich in a fantastic affair.
Despite being dominant for most of the game, Manchester City could only manage a 1-0 win over struggling Southampton at the Etihad, thanks to Erling Haaland, who extended his goal tally to 11 after his 3-game-goal drought in the Premier League.
Breathing Space For The Black Cats
Sunderland continued their excellent run this season, beating Oxford United 2-0 at the Stadium of Light. This win leaves the Black Cats five points clear at the top of the Championship and extends their unbeaten streak at home to six games.
Second-place Burnley picked up their second draw in a row after a 0-0 stalemate to Queens Park Rangers at home, leaving Clarets’ fans frustrated despite the dominant display. Leeds United had the chance to overtake Burnley and sit 2 points behind current leaders Sunderland, but they were also held to a 0-0 draw with Bristol City, leaving themselves third in the table.
Luton Town had a second-half collapse as they saw a 2-0 lead disappear and turn into a 3-2 defeat away to Coventry City. To make matters worse for the Hatters, they were on the receiving end of a red card just 2 minutes before conceding the goal from Haji Wright, which would seal the game.
Plymouth Argyle performed a spectacular comeback as they found themselves 3-0 down at home to Preston North End. This was before a heroic second-half display saw Argyle pull it back to draw 3-3, and winger Morgan Whittaker grabbed the equaliser with just minutes left on the clock.
Wycombe Leapfrog Wrexham
Wycombe Wanderers extended their unbeaten run to 10 games as they comfortably brushed past Leyton Orient in a 3-0 home victory. This win leaves the Chairboys second in League One and just 3 points behind leaders, Birmingham City.
Birmingham City remains at the top; however, they could only draw against Mansfield Town in a big game at the league’s top. Wrexham were another side that also dropped points. A Matt Godden penalty in the 97th minute of the game resulted in a 2-2 draw away to Charlton Athletic. This leaves Wrexham third in the table and now trailing leaders Birmingham by 4 points.
Monday night’s fixture sees Blackpool face off against Wigan Athletic at Bloomfield Road in what is already a vital fixture towards the bottom of the table. A win for the Seasiders will see them climb from 18th to 14th. As for Wigan, a win for them will leave them in 16th place from 19th. An end-to-end game can most certainly be expected here.
Pressure On Port Vale
In League Two, Port Vale’s match against AFC Wimbledon turned out to be thrilling, with the home side taking the three points in a 3-2 win. The pressure is slowly being applied to the league leaders, though, as they have three teams, all just four points away from them.
One of those sides is second-place Walsall, who were stunned after a 0-0 draw with Accrington Stanley. However, with a game on Port Vale, Walsall hopes to close the gap after that fixture. Notts County and Doncaster Rovers are the other sides sitting on 26 points, thanks to wins in their games.
Doncaster picked up a crucial victory against Bradford City, beating them 2-1 at the University of Bradford Stadium in an entertaining affair that saw 35 shots taken in total. On the other hand, Notts County managed a 1-0 victory at home to Harrogate Town in what appeared to be a comfortable performance from the home team, registering 24 shots and 69% possession.
With some huge fixtures in line for Sunday, will we see any drastic changes in the league standings?
