Leeds and Burnley held to draws as Sunderland blunt Blades / Photo: © AFP
Leeds and Burnley held to draws as Sunderland blunt Blades
English Championship leaders Leeds had to settle for a 1-1 draw with Blackburn following a frantic finish to their New Year's Day clash at Elland Road.
Pascal Struijk looked to have won the game for the hosts with an 88th-minute penalty but Danny Batth's last-gasp equaliser rescued a point for play-off contenders Rovers.
"It was definitely not our best game today," said Leeds manager Daniel Farke.
"I think the lads looked a bit tired," added Farke, who also gave "credit" to Rovers.
With the top two at the end of the season guaranteed automatic promotion, second-placed Burnley missed the chance to gain ground in a goalless draw at home to Stoke.
To make matters worse for the Clarets, Hannibal Mejbri was sent off for a stamp in the closing minutes.
Wilson Isidor revived Sunderland's promotion bid with a valuable winner in the 2-1 victory over third-placed Sheffield United.
The on-loan Zenit St Petersburg striker's 35th-minute goal proved decisive at the Stadium of Light after Luke O'Nien's own goal had cancelled out Eliezer Mayenda's opener for the hosts.
The Blades were left kicking themselves after Kieffer Moore had earlier seen his penalty saved by Anthony Patterson.
Fourth-placed Sunderland are now two points behind the top two in the race for an automatic place in the Premier League.
Plymouth's first game since Wayne Rooney stepped down as manager ended in a 2-2 draw with Bristol City thanks to Julio Pleguezuelo's stoppage-time equaliser.
The Spanish defender struck in acrobatic fashion after Adam Randell's free-kick dropped off Zak Vyner into the six-yard box.
City twice led, through Anis Mehmeti and Jason Knight, before Rami Al Hajj, with his first goal for Argyle, and then Pleguezuelo salvaged a point for Plymouth, who remained rooted to the bottom of the table.
Alex Gilbert's stoppage-time strike lifted fifth-placed Middlesbrough to a 1-0 victory over struggling Hull at the MKM Stadium.
Portsmouth climbed out of the bottom three with a 4-0 win at home to Swansea thanks to goals from Josh Murphy, Paddy Lane, Ryley Towler and Colby Bishop at Fratton Park.
Cardiff held on for a 1-1 draw against Coventry after the sending-off of Callum Robinson while QPR continued their climb away from the relegation zone with a 3-1 win over play-off contenders Watford.
Oxford maintained their winning start under Gary Rowett with a 1-0 victory at Millwall in Alex Neil's first game in charge of the Lions.
Josh Windass scored a spectacular goal from inside his own half in Sheffield Wednesday's 4-2 defeat of Derby, with Barry Bannan, Djeidi Gassama and Anthony Musaba also on target for the Owls.
Marcelino Nunez scored the only goal as Norwich won 1-0 at Luton and West Brom defeated Preston 3-1.
B.Scott--TNT
Featured