Championship Analysis – Setbacks for Welsh chasers as Swansea and Cardiff crash and QPR march on
The Welsh nation marked St David’s Day at the turn of March and there has been a real buzz about the country’s domestic footballing profile since the equivalent celebration of 2010. Ryan Giggs, still a key figure at Old Trafford at the age of 37, overtook Bobby Charlton to break the record for the most league appearances for Manchester United, another left-wing wizard in Gareth Bale has been arguably the player of the season so far, and the Championship boasts two continually upwardly mobile clubs in Cardiff and Swansea – both serious challengers for promotion to the Premier League.
The Dragon suffered a hangover on Saturday, however, as each suffered surprise defeats. Due to results elsewhere, they escaped unscathed, with Swansea holding on to second spot and Cardiff third with still a single point separating them. It would be easy to cite their losses as missed opportunities but in truth both sides were extremely unlucky to emerge from their respective matches pointless.
Swansea dominated for long periods at Glanford Park against struggling Scunthorpe and missed a glut of chances before Joe Garner’s penalty sealed the points for the hosts. Meanwhile, Cardiff were thwarted by even pluckier smash-and-grab opponents in Ipswich, thanks to a combination of the woodwork, an inspired display from visiting goalkeeper Marton Fulop – who made several outstanding saves –, and a controversially disallowed first-half goal for offside. Dekel Keinan looked to have headed the Bluebirds in front from Peter Whittingham’s free-kick but it was ruled out and TV replays suggested Keinan was level with the last Ipswich defender. Two wonderful second-half efforts from Jimmy Bullard eventually won it for Paul Jewell’s men.
All of which meant QPR had the chance to extend their lead at the top of the Championship to eight points, and they did so, albeit with a scruffy win 1-0 against in-form Leicester. The result was harsh on the Foxes who forced several fine saves from Paddy Kenny and kept starlet Adel Taarabt quiet to the point where the Moroccan was substituted. Yet it was his replacement, Ishmael Miller, who had the final word two minutes from time. With the Hoops able to grind out points when not at their best, it’s looking ominous for the chasing pack.
Norwich and Nottingham Forest dropped points against Preston and Hull respectively. The Canaries had to settle for a 1-1 draw with the battling Lilywhites and can only have themselves to blame, in particular the usually immaculate Wes Hoolahan who attempted to cheekily chip what would have been a winning penalty down the middle but only managed to find the grateful arms of Iain Turner. Meanwhile at the City Ground, Forest’s astonishing 36-match home unbeaten league record came to an end courtesy of Matt Fryatt’s cool second-half finish for the Tigers, who climbed to eighth.
Leeds were the only team in the play-offs to benefit. Simon Grayson’s team came from behind to hammer Doncaster 5-2, and with those immediately above them stuttering, the gap between second and sixth is back down to just five points.
Scunthorpe’s win over Swansea could be a massive one in the relegation shake-up. The Iron are now just a point below Crystal Palace with a game in hand after the Eagles lost 1-0 at Burnley. The situation remains grim for Sheffield United and Preston, the only two teams yet to win in 2011. Both face clashes against play-off chasers on Tuesday – Forest and Leeds respectively – for what could be another pivotal round of fixtures at both ends of the table.
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