Substitute Joe Aribo struck at the death to seal a dramatic, much-needed 4-3 victory for Southampton at 10-man Birmingham.
Russell Martin’s Saints were in desperate need of a morale-boosting win having lost four of their five games in all competitions since their club-record 25-match unbeaten run came to an end. Birmingham threatened to further dent their fading automatic promotion bid but Southampton’s strong bench and spirit paid dividends as substitute Aribo struck deep in stoppage time.
It was a blockbuster end to a breathless encounter that began with Koji Miyoshi putting the Blues ahead inside two minutes, only for Adam Armstrong to level for Saints. But Jay Stansfield put Birmingham back ahead against the run of play, meaning Saints had to rally after the break.
David Brooks scored a brilliant equaliser and Che Adams put Martin’s men ahead, with Blues captain Dion Sanderson’s sending-off appearing to end the game as a contest. But further twists followed as Birmingham levelled through Juninho Bacuna, before Aribo delivered a potentially huge stoppage-time winner.
Leicester’s lead at the top is down to three points with 11 games to go after relegation-threatened QPR claimed a surprise 2-1 victory at the King Power Stadium. Goals from Ilias Chair and substitute Sinclair Armstrong – who scored with his first touch after coming on just before the hour – earned Rangers their third successive victory.
The Foxes quickly pulled a goal back through teenage defender Ben Nelson but they could not find an equaliser as they slumped to a third league defeat in a row. The result was a valuable one for QPR, but lifted them just one place up the table and they remain outside the bottom three only on goal difference.
Quick GuideLeague One roundup: Portsmouth roll on with Oxford win
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Christian Saydee's second-half effort ensured Portsmouth, the League One leaders, saw off Oxford to maintain their seven-point cushion at the summit.
Callum Lang's low shot opened the scoring for Pompey with just two minutes gone, but Oxford levelled shortly afterwards through a Cameron Brannagan penalty.
Portsmouth sealed a narrow 2-1 win as Saydee tucked home his first league goal for the club after the break.
Second-placed Derby recovered from back-to-back defeats as Louie Sibley hit a brace and Dwight Gayle struck in a 3-0 win over Port Vale.
Bolton are level on points with Derby as they also returned to winning ways, goals from George Thomason and Aaron Collins earning them a 2-0 victory at home to Cambridge.
Carlisle remain rooted to the bottom of the table after slipping to a 3-1 home defeat to beleaguered Reading.
The Royals were docked another two points after failing to pay a tax bill, but on the pitch they were more than a match for their hosts as Sam Smith opened the scoring before a Harvey Knibbs double secured the win, with Jon Mellish grabbing a consolation.
Carlisle are now eight points adrift after Fleetwood beat Wigan 4-2, while Cheltenham's meeting with Burton ended goalless as did Stevenage's trip to Lincoln.
Elsewhere, Chris Martin scored the only goal of the game as 10-man Bristol Rovers survived a late red card for James Wilson to win 1-0 at Leyton Orient.
Peterborough beat Exeter 2-1, Barnsley won 4-2 at Wycombe and Blackpool left Shrewsbury with a 2-0 victory, with Charlton drawing 1-1 at Northampton.
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Ipswich moved back up to second place after a 2-0 win at Plymouth. Kieffer Moore sealed Town’s win on 74 minutes after Conor Chaplin’s shot was deflected in by home defender Brendan Galloway in the 63rd.
Leeds’ bid for a club record 10 successive league wins ended in a 1-1 draw at 10-man Huddersfield. Defender Michal Helik put the hosts ahead before captain Jonathan Hogg was sent off. The returning Patrick Bamford levelled, but the visitors’ perfect league record in 2024 was ended as they were forced to settle for a point.
Play-off hopefuls Preston and Hull drew a frustrating blank with a 0-0 draw at Deepdale that did neither club any favours. Preston created enough opportunities to score but could not make any of them count – but did stretch their unbeaten run to seven matches.
Josh Sargent scored for the seventh successive home game as Norwich maintained their play-off challenge with a hard-fought 1-0 win over Sunderland. The USA international struck in the 81st minute as the Canaries finally found a way past a stubborn visiting defence to make it five victories on the trot at Carrow Road.
Quick GuideLeague Two roundup: Maris helps Mansfield pull ahead
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Mansfield extended their lead at the top of League Two to three points as George Maris turned home the only goal of the game to secure a 1-0 win at Newport.
The Stags moved further clear as Crewe let a two-goal lead slip to lose 3-2 at home to Morecambe.
Elliott Nevitt and Shilow Tracey scored to seemingly have Crewe on course for a regulation victory, only for the visitors to hit three in 14 minutes as Joe Adams and Jordan Slew levelled and a Mickey Demetriou goal gave Morecambe the win.
Crewe's capitulation allowed Wrexham to move above them into third. Paul Mullins' first-half hat-trick helped to earn a straightforward 4-0 win over Accrington, with Elliot Lee adding the fourth before Lewis Shipley was sent off in stoppage time for Stanley.
MK Dons remain fifth after losing 1-0 at rivals AFC Wimbledon in Saturday's early kick off as Ronan Curtis scored a memorable stoppage-time winner.
Harvey Rodgers scored the only goal of the game as Grimsby beat fellow strugglers Forest Green to pull clear of the relegation zone, while Rob Apter's late effort earned Tranmere a 1-0 victory at rock-bottom Sutton.
Gillingham won 2-0 at Salford, Walsall beat Doncaster 3-1 and Harrogate drew 1-1 at Swindon.
Waterlogged pitches meant Bradford v Notts County, Colchester v Stockport and Crawley v Barrow were postponed.
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Cardiff completed a Severnside derby double over Bristol City by winning 1-0 at Ashton Gate. Perry Ng’s 66th-minute header gave Cardiff back-to-back victories after going four without a win and took them above City in the table.
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Zian Flemming’s early free-kick was enough for Millwall to beat Watford 1-0 at The Den and make it two wins from two since manager Neil Harris’s return to the club. With several of their fellow strugglers also picking up results, coming away with maximum points was imperative for the Lions as it keeps them one point clear of the relegation zone. Watford are six points clear of trouble, but after their fifth defeat in six games their form is leaving them in danger of being dragged into the increasingly congested battle against the drop.
Stoke secured a vital victory in their fight for survival as they defeated Middlesbrough 2-0. A Bae Jun-ho strike before the interval – his second goal in as many games – set the Potters on their way, and Lewis Baker added the finishing touch to a well-worked corner routine to secure a rare home win.
With the mounting threat of a first relegation to the third tier since 1998, their second win in eight games relieved some pressure on manager Steven Schumacher.
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Luke Williams finally earned his first league home victory as Swansea head coach at the fifth attempt with a 2-1 win against Blackburn. Williams’s previous four matches in front of Swansea fans had all ended in defeat, but first-half goals from Joe Allen and Jamie Paterson enabled him to break that sequence. The division’s top scorer Sammie Szmodics pulled a goal back for Blackburn just past the hour mark, but Rovers were unable to make their second-half dominance pay.
Sheffield Wednesday secured a valuable 1-0 win in their bid to beat the drop by seeing off neighbours Rotherham. Ike Ugbo’s sixth goal in five games proved to be the difference between the two sides, leaving the Owls three points from a safe position. Defeat leaves Rotherham a huge 19 points adrift.
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