Frank Lampard admitted he was “out of order” after he sparked a post-match melee following Coventry’s 1-1 draw at Southampton. Saints fans had targeted the visitors’ manager with abuse in the latter stages of the match and, after the full-time whistle, Lampard went on to the pitch and repeatedly gestured to them, which led to players reacting.
“I was probably emotional,” said Lampard of his reaction to being called “a shit Steven Gerrard”. “The fans had given me a bit in the last 10 minutes and I went on the pitch to give them a bit back. It was really out of order but I wouldn’t have had as long in this game if I wasn’t sometimes emotional on the pitch, and not a bad bloke off it.
“I was very proud of the players and then it got a bit heated. Not every game came we shake hands and smile. We live for this game to be emotional. I have no problem with their players or fans. This is a very good football club and I have always liked it. They might not have that back for me tonight but that is fine.
“Nothing is meant in this game, we both want to win. I was hyped because of what my players had done. I’m not a robot. I had 10 minutes of that and I think I’m allowed to have a little moment.”
Tempers flare at Southampton’s St Mary’s Stadium after the final whistle. Photograph: Peter Tarry/PA
Ephron Mason-Clark had given Coventry a first-half lead with a header from Victor Torp’s dink, but they could not hold out as Nathan Wood levelled after the break, following Jay Dasilva’s red card 85 seconds into the second half. The full-back steamed into Welington and smashed into the Brazilian wing-back’s shins with his studs. In the 56th minute Wood nodded in his first Southampton goal from a pinpoint delivery by Adam Armstrong.
QPR thrashed Leicester 4-1 in a nightmare return to west London for Martí Cifuentes. The under-pressure Foxes manager, back at Loftus Road for the first time since an acrimonious exit from Rangers earlier this year, saw his team concede four goals in a first half his former side totally dominated.
Koki Saito opened the scoring in the second minute, and goals from Richard Kone, Karamoko Dembele and Amadou Mbengue put the hosts in complete control. Silko Thomas pulled one back – his first goal for Leicester – by thumping in the loose ball after Bobby De Cordova-Reid’s 82nd-minute penalty had hit a post.
Cifuentes has endured a difficult start at Leicester since taking over in the summer and, after an encouraging total of seven points from their previous three matches, this result puts him back under serious pressure. His successor at QPR, Julien Stéphan, on the other hand, is enjoying an impressive first season in English football: Rangers are in the playoff chase and this was their fourth consecutive home win.
A goal in each half from Emil Riis and substitute Rob Atkinson saw Bristol City end Kim Hellberg’s winning run as Middlesbrough manager with a thrilling 2-0 victory at Ashton Gate. The home side took a 17th-minute lead when Riis drilled a low right-footed shot past Sol Brynn from just outside the box after his first effort had been blocked back into his path. Centre-back Atkinson, back in the squad after injury, doubled the advantage with a close-range header from Scott Twine’s 62nd-minute corner and the Robins defied late pressure to take the points from a game that did credit to both teams.
Bristol City’s Rob Atkinson (right) scores his side’s second at Ashton Gate. Photograph: Jacob King/PA
Phillipe Clement rued the “cruellest” of endings as Norwich conceded an equaliser with seconds remaining to draw 1-1 with Preston at Deepdale. Substitute Will Keane nodded North End level from close range six minutes into stoppage time after Jovon Makama thought he had won it for the visitors in the 84th minute.
Clement, whose side have lost just once in six games as they bid to climb out of relegation trouble, said: “I think it’s the cruellest scenario you can have in football, to lose points, not in the dying minutes, but in the dying seconds. Of course it’s a hard one to take because the team put in a good performance today.”
Ipswich climbed up to third in the table with a 3-1 win over Sheffield Wednesday at Portman Road. Cedric Kipre, Jaden Philogene and Jack Clarke were on target for the hosts, with Liam Cooper pulling one back for the beleaguered Owls. But Wednesday, who have been docked 18 points this season but are seemingly moving closer to a takeover, did not look like a team at the bottom of the table as they offered a series of threats throughout.
Hull strengthened their grip on a playoff place with a 1-0 victory over West Brom. Oli McBurnie scored for the third consecutive game, hitting the winner from the penalty spot just before half-time. The visitors had defender Alfie Gilchrist sent off in the second half.
Millwall remain in the playoff zone despite a 2-0 defeat at Blackburn making it back-to-back losses. Andri Gudjohnsen hit his fourth in his last seven outings in the third minute, and Yuki Ohashi doubled the lead just before the break, taking advantage of a chronic communication breakdown in the Millwall defence.
Blackburn’s Yuki Ohashi celebrates scoring his side’s second goal with Andri Gudjohnsen, the scorer of their first, and Todd Cantwell. Photograph: Lee Parker/CameraSport/Getty Images
Alex Neil was furious with his side’s first-half performance, saying they were “miles off” the standards expected. “In possession and out of possession, we made it so easy for Blackburn. If I could have made more subs at half-time I would have. That’s how frustrated I was with the first half, especially if you look at how far our fans have travelled before Christmas and we serve up that first half. Unacceptable.”
Watford finally found a way through the meanest defence in the Championship to beat Stoke 1-0 with Luca Kjerrumgaard’s second-half goal. The Danish striker was on target in the 74th minute to stretch the Hornets’ unbeaten home run to nine matches, and they have lost just once in their last 10 home and away.
Sheffield United continued their revival under Chris Wilder as they beat Birmingham 3-0 at Bramall Lane. First-half goals from Tyler Bindon and Gustavo Hamer were followed by another from Patrick Bamford against a team who played more than 70 minutes a man down following the dismissal of Tommy Doyle.
Portsmouth’s long wait for an away win went on after Derby came back to draw 1-1 at Pride Park. It looked good for the visitors when they took an early lead through Callum Lang, but the hosts levelled on the stroke of half-time when Hayden Matthews turned the ball into his own net. The home side had plenty of possession but failed to create any clear chances until the closing minutes when Patrick Agyemang had a header well saved by Nicolas Schmid.
Charlie Kelman marked his return from injury by scoring the only goal as Charlton beat Oxford 1-0 at The Valley. It was the former QPR striker’s first match back after missing seven fixtures with a hamstring injury. Kelman replaced Isaac Olaofe just after the hour mark and produced a predatory strike from the edge of the box to deepen the relegation concerns for the U’s, who have collected one point from a possible 12. This was Charlton’s first win since 4 November.
Following Friday night’s meeting of the division’s Welsh clubs, Phil Parkinson defended Arthur Okonkwo after the Wrexham goalkeeper’s 90th-minute howler handed Swansea a 2-1 victory. Okonkwo first failed to collect Ethan Galbraith’s free-kick as his punch looped into the air behind him and towards Ben Cabango. The Swansea captain sent a looping header towards goal, and Okonkwo was back in position to make an easy catch by the post, but he dropped the ball and Adam Idah had the simple task of nudging it across the line.
Parkinson said: “It’s a high-profile mistake, but Arthur’s been outstanding. He’s been a colossus of a goalkeeper and he’ll get every bit of support because he’s won us a lot of points over the last few years.”
