Burnley extended their lead at the top of the Championship to seven points with a 3-0 win at Norwich as Sheffield United were held by Rotherham.
Anass Zaroury set Burnley on their way in the eighth minute after a Tim Krul error and, though they had to wait until after half-time to break down the Canaries again, two goals in six minutes from substitute Vitinho and debutant Hjalmar Ekdal sealed a comfortable win.
A ninth straight league win felt even more valuable as the Blades dropped points in a goalless draw with their South Yorkshire rivals, with Anel Ahmedhodzic and Billy Sharp missing presentable chances.
It also temporarily lifted the Clarets 20 points clear of third place, though Middlesbrough narrowed that gap slightly with a 3-0 win over Blackpool later in the day. Chuba Akpom scored twice before Paddy McNair made the result certain.
Fourth-placed Luton stayed level on points with Boro, having played a game less, as Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu’s early goal earned them a 1-0 win over Stoke.
Watford, though, squandered a two-goal lead in a dramatic 2-2 draw with Reading. Ismaila Sarr and debutant defender Ryan Porteous seemed to have put the Hornets in total control but Tom Ince’s penalty and Jeff Hendrick’s stunning volley earned Reading a point.
Millwall and Sunderland remain just outside the play-off places after a 1-1 draw, Dennis Cirkin’s goal for the Black Cats cancelling out Jake Cooper’s opener. The two teams are separated in the table by eight-placed Blackburn, who play Wigan on Monday.
Hull are into the top half after a fourth win in six games, 1-0 over Cardiff thanks to Cyrus Christie’s goal just after the hour.
Birmingham twice came from behind to beat Swansea 4-3 in south Wales. Blues led through Scott Hogan’s penalty but Joel Piroe’s double helped put Swansea 3-2 up, Liam Cullen with their other goal while Tahith Chong scored for Birmingham.
Lukas Jutkiewicz headed a 90th-minute equaliser and there was still time for more drama when Auston Trusty – whose extra-time own goal saw them knocked out of the FA Cup by Blackburn on Tuesday night – scored a winner seven minutes into stoppage time.
Bristol City won 2-1 at Preston, Mark Sykes and Sam Bell on target before Ched Evans pulled one back, and Martyn Waghorn earned Huddersfield a 1-1 draw after QPR had led through Jamal Lowe.
Sky Bet League One
Sheffield Wednesday leapfrogged Plymouth to move to the top of Sky Bet League One with a narrow 1-0 win at Hillsborough.
Callum Paterson struck the only goal of the game after just seven minutes, turning home Will Vaulks’ cross at the near post, as the Owls extended their unbeaten run to 16 games and knocked the visitors off the summit for just the second time since September.
That result put Sheffield Wednesday six points clear in the race for promotion after third-placed Ipswich drew 1-1 at struggling Cambridge.
Harvey Knibbs scored for the hosts in the first half before striker Freddie Ladapo levelled, after Cambridge striker Joe Ironside had had a penalty saved by goalkeeper Christian Walton.
The draw leaves Ipswich with just one win in six games and puts Cambridge two points from safety in 22nd.
A David McGoldrick hat-trick in the space of five minutes either side of half-time earned Derby a sixth league win in a row to strengthen their grip on the top six.
They were 5-0 winners against Morecambe, whose relegation fears resurfaced having won four of their previous five matches.
Burton dragged themselves out of the relegation zone thanks to a dramatic finale at Fleetwood.
Promise Omochere thought he had rescued a point for the hosts in the fourth minute of added time, only for substitute Charlie Kirk to snatch a stunning 3-2 win on his debut.
Ten-man Accrington stay second from bottom after going down 3-0 at home to Lincoln.
Goals from Ben House, Teddy Bishop and Sean Roughan earned the visitors their first league win since November, after substitute Harry Perritt was sent off in the first half for Accrington.
Duncan Ferguson is still awaiting his first win as Forest Green manager after rock-bottom Rovers lost 2-0 at home to play-off-chasing Peterborough.
Jonson Clarke-Harris and Hector Kyprianou were on the scoresheet to leave the home side with a five-point gap to safety.
It means Posh moved to within three points of the top six after Barnsley’s 1-1 draw at Portsmouth. Colby Bishop scored just after half-time before defender Bobby Thomas rescued a late point for the sixth-placed Tykes.
Bolton left it late to beat Cheltenham and keep the play-off chasing pack at arm’s length.
A goal in the 80th minute from midfielder Kyle Dempsey ensured the gap to seventh-placed Posh remained seven points. Defeat for Cheltenham leaves them 18th with a two-point gap on the relegation places.
There was a 1-0 win for Shrewsbury at Oxford and 2-0 success for MK Dons at Bristol Rovers, while Charlton moved to within a point of their hosts Exeter with a 2-1 victory at St James’s Park.
Wycombe boosted their play-off ambitions with an emphatic 3-0 win at Port Vale.
Sky Bet League Two
George Moncur’s goal earned Leyton Orient a 1-0 win over AFC Wimbledon that stretched their lead at the top of Sky Bet League Two to four points.
Moncur drilled home from the left side of the penalty area in the 64th minute to settle an often feisty encounter at Brisbane Road.
And that was enough for three points as Orient made it a club-record nine consecutive home league matches without conceding.
Second-placed Stevenage extended their unbeaten league record to 12 games but could not keep pace with the leaders as they were held to a goalless draw at Sutton.
Paul Huntington’s late own goal saw Harrogate end a run of five games without a win as they upset promotion-chasing Carlisle 1-0 at Brunton Park.
Huntington misjudged a back pass to goalkeeper Tomas Holy in the 82nd minute as Carlisle missed out on a fifth straight win, yet they remain in the automatic promotion places by one point as Northampton were held to a goalless draw at home to Walsall.
Northampton had the better of what few chances there were in an often lifeless encounter, but finished with 10 men as Ali Koiki collected a second booking in stoppage time.
Salford are just two points behind the Cobblers after a 2-1 win over Rochdale at the Peninsula Stadium.
Matt Smith turned in Elliot Watt’s cross 11 minutes in and Conor McAleny doubled the lead just after the hour, with Scott Quigley’s penalty with nine minutes left not enough for the visitors.
Sixth-placed Mansfield needed a stoppage-time header from Alfie Kilgour to salvage a point from a 1-1 draw at promotion rivals Bradford.
Kilgour headed in Elliott Hewitt’s cross at the death to cancel out Andy Cook’s first-half strike for the hosts.
Stockport moved into the last of the play-off places with a 3-2 win over Tranmere.
Kyle Knoyle headed County in front 19 minutes in and although Kane Hemmings levelled from the spot after being fouled by Akil Wright, Kyle Wootton headed Stockport back in front before the break.
Will Collar made it 3-1 11 minutes from time and Stockport hung on after Kieron Morris got a second for Tranmere in the 84th minute.
That saw Stockport take advantage of defeat for Swindon, who went down 2-1 away to relegation-threatened Newport in Jody Morris’ first game in charge.
A straight red card shown to Rushian Hepburn-Murphy for shoving Cameron Norman in the face only 15 minutes in proved pivotal.
Norman would then head in the opening goal nine minutes into the second half before substitute Calum Kavanagh got the second 12 minutes from time, with a stoppage-time goal from Tomi Adeloye only a consolation.
Barrow sit one point outside the play-off places after Kwesi Appiah’s stoppage-time equaliser denied them victory at Colchester where it finished 1-1.
Appiah found the net in the sixth minute of time added on to cancel out Ben Whitfield’s 57th-minute goal.
Dan Dodds’ 88th-minute goal gave Hartlepool only their second league win in seven as they won 1-0 at Doncaster.
And the result kept them out of the bottom two by one point despite a 1-0 win for Gillingham against Crawley.
Shaun Williams got the winner as the Gills extended their unbeaten run to four games.
First-half goals from John McAtee and George Lloyd set Grimsby on their way to a 3-0 win over Crewe, with Tom Dickson-Peters sealing the victory late on.
