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Coventry, the leaders, won away for the first time since 25 November and their 2-0 victory at the Hawthorns left West Brom, who have not won in nine league games and not scored a league goal in 360 minutes, deeper in relegation trouble.
Coventry took the lead with their first attack of the game, punishing West Brom’s high defensive line. Frank Onyeka won the ball in midfield, Milan van Ewijk sent a long ball over the top and Ephron Mason-Clark chested it down before lobbing goalkeeper Max O’Leary, who got a hand to the shot. Mason-Clark got the wrong side of Alfie Gilchrist, who tried in vain to clear the ball off the line and ended up in the back of the net. The forward’s seventh goal of the season was his first since Boxing Day.
Coventry made it 2-0 with a memorable effort from Jack Rudoni, the midfielder lashing a fierce drive into the top corner of the net from 25 yards after being allowed to run from inside his own half.
QPR consigned Hull to back-to-back league defeats with a 3-1 win at the MKM Stadium. Daniel Bennie did the damage after 84 minutes when the Hong Kong-born winger let rip from the edge of the penalty area not long after he came on as a substitute.
QPR then put the game to bed in stoppage time after Richard Kone cut in from the left before directing the ball past Ivor Pandur.
Hull deserved nothing against well-drilled opponents and fell behind after 21 minutes when Harvey Vale’s corner caused carnage, with the ball hitting Paddy McNair’s left thigh for an own goal. The hosts equalised after 39 minutes when Joe Gelhardt cashed in from close range after a Ronnie Edwards error.
QPR’s manager, Julien Stéphan, played down talk of a playoff shot. “Let’s see how the table looks with three or four games remaining. This is not the main thing right now. The main thing is how we reacted after a bad performance at home to Blackburn. It’s a crazy league – everybody can beat everybody – but it’s about adapting to circumstances.”
Gary Rowett’s first match in charge of Leicester ended as a 2-2 draw after the Stoke captain, Ben Wilmot, struck in the last minute of normal time. The hosts came flying out of the traps and took the lead in the third minute, with Wilmot heading home from Aaron Cresswell’s brilliant cross from the left.
Five minutes later, Wilmot went close to doubling the lead, but he headed wide from Sorba Thomas’s delivery. An equaliser arrived seven minutes into the second half as Divine Mukasa’s left-footed cross beat everyone and left Tommy Simkin with no chance of keeping the ball out of the net.
Harry Winks pounced on Mukasa’s lovely lay-off and bent the ball into the bottom corner to make it 2-1 and Leicester came close to adding a third goal with 10 minutes of normal time remaining, Stephy Mavididi shooting just wide. It proved to be a costly miss as Wilmot was on hand to make his way into the area and tap home Thomas’s cross to make it 2-2.
Zan Vipotnik’s first-half goal fired Swansea to a 1-0 home victory over Bristol City. The Slovene lashed home from close range after 26 minutes for his 16th goal of the season, his 12th goal in 16 home league appearances and his sixth goal in his past four home games.
The strike secured Swansea their seventh win from their past eight fixtures at home – the other was a draw. Bristol City will count themselves unfortunate having had the better of the chances and they were twice denied by the woodwork.
In Friday’s Lancashire derby, Blackburn beat Preston 1-0 to ease their relegation worries. Blackburn looked to be heading to a creditable draw but upped the ante in the second half and got their rewards in the fifth minute of stoppage time through Yuki Ohashi’s brilliantly placed header.
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