EFL goals, round-up: Forest go third; Crewe drop to L2
Nottingham Forest maintained their Sky Bet Championship promotion charge as a 2-0 home win against Birmingham lifted them up to third in the table.
On-loan Aston Villa forward Keinan Davis gave Forest a flying start and Scott McKenna headed a game-clinching second with 11 minutes left.
Forest comfortably saw out 12 minutes of added-time following an injury to Birmingham goalkeeper Neil Etheridge following a second-half collision with Forest defender Djed Spence.
Steve Cooper’s side secured their fifth straight league win – extending theirunbeaten run in the Championship to 10 matches – and closed the gap on second-placed Bournemouth to six points.
Bournemouth’s bid for automatic promotion met with more frustration as they were held 0-0 at play-off hopefuls Sheffield United.
The Cherries, beaten 2-0 at West Brom in midweek, were grateful for a point at Bramall Lane as the Blades had a late penalty appeal turned down and went close through Filip Uremovic with practically the last kick of the game.
Middlesbrough’s play-off hopes were hit by back-to-back home defeats as they lost 1-0 to Hull at The Riverside.
Keane Lewis-Potter struck the game’s only goal for Hull with 15 minutes remaining and Boro, who lost by the same score at home to Fulham in midweek, are three points off the top six.
Blackburn also missed the chance to climb into the play-off places after being held 1-1 by Blackpool at Ewood Park.
Blackpool defender Marvin Ekpiteta’s effort soon after the interval cancelled out Sam Gallagher’s early opener for Blackburn.
QPR’s miserable run continued as they slipped to a fifth straight defeat, beaten 2-1 at Preston.
Hoops defender Jimmy Dunne’s first-half own-goal edged Preston ahead and they doubled their lead through Cameron Archer early in the second half.
Andre Gray’s stoppage-time penalty for the visitors was scant consolation.
Barnsley’s survival hopes were dealt a blow as they lost 4-1 at Millwall.
Millwall defender Danny McNamara scored his first goals for the club with a brace either side of half-time.
Romal Palmer fired Barnsley back into it, but Oliver Burke restored Millwall’s two-goal advantage and Benik Afobe lashed home their fourth.
Stoke made it three wins from their last four with a 3-1 win at West Brom.
Jake Livermore’s first-half own goal gave Stoke the lead and Jacob Brown headed his 12th goal of the season after the break to put them 2-0 up.
Callum Robinson’s eighth goal of the season for West Brom set up a grandstand finish but Stoke sealed the points through Lewis Baker’s stoppage-time effort.
Joel Piroe struck an early double as Swansea won 2-1 at home against Derby.
Piroe struck his 17th and 18th league goals of the season inside the first 16 minutes to put Swansea in control before Tom Lawrence’s penalty for Derby reduced the deficit.
Will Vaulks’ late goal clinched Cardiff a 2-1 win at relegation battlers Reading.
Lucas Joao’s header gave Reading an early lead, but Alfie Doughty curled Cardiff level and Vaulks struck five minutes from time.
Jonson Clarke-Harris rescued a point for 10-man Peterborough in a 1-1 draw at Bristol City.
Rob Atkinson headed City in front and Peterborough defender Joe Ward was shown a straight red card for his second-half challenge on Andreas Weimann, but Posh hit back to level through Clarke-Harris’ close-range finish.
Sky Bet League One
Callum Lang’s double helped Wigan extend their lead at the top of Sky Bet League One with a 3-1 win against Lincoln.
Lang put the Latics in front in the eighth minute but Anthony Scully quickly pulled one back for the Imps.
Will Keane restored the lead for Wigan and Lang added the third in the second half to move the visitors three points clear at the top.
MK Dons remained second in the table but had to come back to draw with AFC Wimbledon as Troy Parrott’s 80th-minute strike cancelled out Alex Woodyard’s first-half goal.
Rotherham stayed third but were handed their second consecutive league loss after being beaten 1-0 by Charlton, with George Dobson’s strike handing the Addicks three points.
Plymouth in fourth were held to a goalless draw by Burton and fifth-placed Sheffield Wednesday drew 1-1 against Bolton, with MJ Williams’ stoppage-time strike cancelling out Jordan Storey’s goal.
Sunderland moved into the top six after Elliot Embleton struck late to beat Oxford 2-1.
The Black Cats went in front 16 minutes in through Corry Evans but Elliott Moore levelled for the U’s before Embleton scored in the 89th minute to see Alex Neil’s side move into sixth.
They switched places with Wycombe, who dropped to seventh after drawing 1-1 with Gillingham.
Sam Vokes put Wycombe in front but the Gills equalised in the second half through a Jack Tucker volley and Lewis Wing was then dismissed for the Chairboys in the 86th minute.
Ipswich were forced to settle for a 1-1 draw with Shrewsbury despite James Norwood’s early goal.
The Tractor Boys were reduced to 10 men in the 75th minute when Cam Burgess was shown a second yellow and Shaun Whalley rescued a point for the Shrews six minutes from time.
Accrington came from behind to beat 10-man Fleetwood 2-1.
Ellis Harrison put Fleetwood 1-0 up just before half-time but Sean McConville levelled in the second half.
The hosts were then reduced to 10 men in the 85th minute when goalkeeper Alex Cairns was shown a red card for handling outside the box and Michael Nottingham scored deep into stoppage-time to secure three points for Stanley.
Joe Ironside’s penalty saw Cambridge earn their third win in five games after beating Morecambe 2-1.
Sam Smith blasted home from close range to put the U’s in front just before half-time but Cole Stockton cancelled that out with a volley in the second half.
Cambridge were awarded a penalty three minutes later and Ironside slotted home from the spot.
Liam Sercombe’s second-half strike helped Cheltenham return to winning ways as they beat Portsmouth 1-0.
Towards the bottom end of the table, Doncaster pulled off a 2-0 win against relegation rivals Crewe, with Tommy Rowe and Josh Martin scoring for Rovers.
Sky Bet League Two
Promotion-chasing Mansfield pushed Scunthorpe a step closer to relegation from Sky Bet League Two with a 4-0 win at Sands Venue Stadium – where play was held up during the second half when protesting home fans threw tennis balls onto the pitch.
Had results gone against them, the Iron could have been pushed through the trapdoor on Saturday afternoon – but with Oldham and Barrow also losing, their fate is not yet mathematically confirmed.
An own goal from Iron midfielder Anthony Grant after 16 minutes set the Stags on their way to what was a comfortable victory, with Stephen McLaughlin and Ryan Stirk making it 3-0 by the break.
Stephen Quinn added a fourth just seconds after the restart.
Played was briefly stopped with 15 minutes left after some of the home supporters threw tennis balls onto the pitch in an apparent protest against Scunthorpe owner Peter Swann.
At the other end of the table, Forest Green saw their lead cut to five points after being held to a 1-1 draw at home by Hartlepool.
Midfielder Regan Hendry fired Rovers ahead eight minutes into the second half but Omar Bogle struck an equaliser after 68 minutes.
Exeter left it late to take advantage as Padraig Amond headed in an 89th-minute goal to secure a 1-0 win at Carlisle.
Port Vale kept up the chase after beating Oldham 3-2 for a fourth straight win.
Jamie Proctor gave Vale an early lead and struck another in the 34th minute after Christopher Missilou had levelled things up.
Oldham equalised at 2-2 in first-half stoppage time through Davis Keillor-Dunn, but Brad Walker had the hosts ahead again nine minutes into the second half.
Northampton saw their promotion push checked after being held to a goalless draw at home by Bradford.
Tranmere and Bristol Rovers drew 1-1 at Prenton Park to keep both sides in play-off contention.
Kane Hemmings had the home side in front nine minutes into the second half, butRovers were level just after the hour mark through Elliot Anderson.
Newport won 1-0 at Swindon through a last-minute own goal by Town defender Dion Conroy, which puts them seventh.
Matt Smith struck twice in the final 20 minutes as Salford beat Harrogate 2-0 to move within a point of the play-offs.
At the other end of the table, Stevenage boosted their survival hopes with a 2-0 win at Colchester, where they finished with 10 men.
Jamie Reid put the visitors in front during first-half stoppage time and Luke Norris nodded in a second soon after the restart.
Boro striker Norris was then sent off for a second caution with seven minutes left.
Strugglers Barrow slipped to a fourth straight loss after they were beaten 1-0 at Crawley, where Kwesi Appiah broke the deadlock just before the hour.
Rochdale beat Walsall 1-0 with a goal from Conor Grant 10 minutes into the second half, while defender Joe Kizzi’s first-half header proved enough to give Sutton a home win over Leyton Orient.