Substitute Ronald scored a last-minute winner to keep Swansea top of the Championship after their match at Millwall was held up for almost seven minutes due to a complaint about racist chanting at the Den. The referee, Edward Duckworth, halted the match in the 65th minute and walked to the dugouts to speak with Lions manager, Alex Neil, Swans counterpart Vítor Matos and fourth official Ruebyn Ricardo. A security guard was also on the scene, with the referee seeming to point to an area in the stands behind the Swansea dugout.
When play eventually resumed it was announced in the stadium that there had been a report of racist chanting, adding that police were working to identify any offenders using CCTV. But the unsavoury incident could not take the gloss off a dramatic last-gasp 1-0 victory for the table-toppers. The Brazilian defender Neto Borges bagged a dramatic injury-time winner after earlier scoring an own goal as high-flyers Middlesbrough secured a thrilling 3-2 victory over battling Stoke.
The 30-year-old netted his first league goal for 18 months as Boro stay second in the table after stretching their current unbeaten run to five games. Callum Brittain had fired the visitors ahead three minutes into the second half before Junior Tchamadeu’s shot deflected in off Borges for an unfortunate own goal soon afterwards. The England Under-21 hitman Will Lankshear restored the visitors’ lead with his eighth league goal in 10 games after Stoke keeper Viktor Johansson inexplicably spilled Brighton loanee Amario Cozier-Duberry’s left-foot strike from the edge of the area.
It took the striker to the top of the Championship scoring charts. Substitute Robert Bozenik looked to have earned the home side a point, slotting home after Boro skipper Luke Ayling’s poor clearance with five minutes left, but Borges scored from close range in the first of four minutes of stoppage time. Watford’s woeful season took another turn for the worse as they conceded four first-half goals in a 5-1 defeat at Cardiff to drop into the relegation zone.
Rising Republic of Ireland star Jack Moylan scored twice in the first half, winning and converting an 11th-minute penalty and then picking his spot to beat Federico Ravaglia in a one-on one in the 35th. Hornets skipper Mattie Pollock had brought down Moylan for the penalty and then headed into his own net from a corner in the 41st minute before Ollie Tanner added the fourth in the fifth minute of first-half added time. Birmingham underlined their growing promotion credentials with a commanding 4-0 victory over 10-man Preston at St Andrew’s.
Two goals from August Priske and one each for Liam Millar and Demarai Gray gave Chris Davies’ men a third win in four games – and their first at home. Preston, who played most of the second half with 10 men, remain rooted to the bottom of the table. Ivan Mesik scored a dramatic last-gasp leveller for Charlton to clinch a 2-2 draw at Burnley, extending the hosts’ 360-day wait for a home league win.
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