EFL Championship round-up: West Brom go back on top, Brentford win London derby

Charlie Austin celebrates scoring as he bagged a brace to help West Brom secure a 3-2 win away to Birmingham City.

Results: Friday Charlton Athletic 2 Hull City 2

Saturday Birmingham City 2 West Bromwich Albion 3 Barnsley 5 Queens Park Rangers 3 Brentford 1 Fulham 0 Bristol City 0 Blackburn Rovers 2 Derby County 0 Millwall 1 Leeds United 3 Cardiff City 3 Nottingham Forest 0 Sheffield Wednesday 4 Preston North End 2 Luton Town 1 Stoke City 0 Reading 0 Swansea City 3 Middlesbrough 1 Wigan Athletic 1 Huddersfield Town 1

Round-up: After the drama of the general election on Thursday night in the UK, the football returned in focus on Friday night, with a Friday night fixture beginning another weekend of Championship action. Charlton Athletic, who have been out-of-form of late, hosted an inconsistent Hull City side. Charlton Athletic took the lead in a poor first half thanks to a 34th minute goal from Darren Pratley. The second half was an improved showing, and Hull equalised in the 47th minute thanks to a goal from talisman Jarrod Bowen, before 3 minutes later Charlton retook the lead thanks to a goal from Naby Sarr. It seemed as though Charlton were going to earn their first victory since October 19th when they beat Derby County, however, a 96th minute own goal from Dillon Phillips helped Hull salvage a point and deny Charlton the win.

The action on Saturday began with a Midlands derby, as Birmingham City hosted high-flying West Bromwich Albion. Just like in the last league fixture between the two sides in March, West Bromwich Albion twice came from behind to win 3-2. After only 3 minutes, Birmingham City took the lead thanks to a goal from Lukas Jutkiewicz, before that was cancelled out only 7 minutes later, as Grady Diangana equalised for the away side. The hosts went back in front thanks to a goal from defender Harlee Dean, before a brace from substitute Charlie Austin gave West Brom the victory. As a result of their victory, West Brom returned to the top of the table, and will remain there for another week, as a 10-man Cardiff City remarkably came back from 3 goals down to deny Leeds United victory which would have returned them to the summit. A brace from Patrick Bamford coupled with a goal from Helder Costa enabled Leeds to race into a 3-0 lead, before goals from Lee Tomlin, Sean Morrison (who was later sent off) and Robert Glatzel helped Cardiff to salvage a point in a 3-3 draw. Preston North End recorded their second successive 2-1 victory, this time at home to Luton Town. The hosts took the lead after Paul Gallagher scored from the rebound as he saw his penalty saved in the 5th minute. Luton Town then equalised with a penalty of their own, which James Collins converted, before Jayden Stockley scored 6 minutes from time to give Preston North End victory, which enabled them to move up into third place. Meanwhile, Fulham suffered their third consecutive league defeat, this time at the hands of Brentford, who themselves recorded a second successive home victory, thanks to a goal from Bryan Mbeumo which enabled them to move up into fourth place. Sheffield Wednesday were another team to move into play-off places, as they recorded an impressive 4-0 triumph away to Nottingham Forest, thanks to a hat-trick from Jordan Rhodes, followed by a goal from Steven Fletcher. One team who slipped out of the play-off places, however, were Bristol City, who suffered a second successive defeat, this time at the hands of Blackburn Rovers, who themselves extended their unbeaten league run to six consecutive games. Bradley Johnson and Adam Armstrong were the goalscorers for Blackburn in a 2-0 triumph, which helped them move to within a point of the play-off places. Another team who moved to within a point of the play-off places were Swansea City, as they ended a six-match winless run thanks to a 3-1 victory at home to 9-man Middlesbrough, thanks to an André Ayew brace followed by a goal from Sam Surridge, as Middlesbrough had both Marcus Browne and Paddy McNair sent off. Millwall extended their unbeaten league run to 7 consecutive games, as they recorded a 1-0 win at the expense of Derby County thanks to a goal from Tom Bradshaw, which means Derby have now not won any of their last 5 league games. Barnsley closed the gap to safety to just four points, as they recorded a 5-3 win at home to Queens Park Rangers, thanks to goals from Bambo Diaby, Cauley Woodrow from the penalty spot, and a hat-trick from Conor Chaplin - with Ilias Chair and Luke Amos (twice) scoring the goals for QPR. Huddersfield Town salvaged a point away at struggling Wigan Athletic thanks to a 70th minute goal from Karlan Grant, after Josh Windass put the home side in front in the 43rd minute, whilst Stoke City were held to a goalless draw at home to Reading.