Leeds back on top of Championship after comfortable win over QPR

LONDON: Tyler Roberts celebrated his first start of the season by putting Leeds back on top of the Championship with a 2-0 win over QPR.

Wales attacker Roberts has struggled with injuries, but the forward made up for lost time when he side-footed into the bottom corner for his first goal since October 2018 six minutes before half-time at Elland Road.

Jack Harrison had set up the opener and he sealed the win eight minutes from time with a composed finish.

“If we win by one goal and you have five minutes left, then everybody is nervous in the stadium. So we hope that match to match we don’t have more of this feeling,” Leeds manager Marcelo Bielsa said.

“We try to pass this kind of match where we are winning 1-0, more relaxed, more calm.”

Leeds are ahead of Swansea on goal difference after the Welsh club left it late to beat Wigan 2-1 at the DW Stadium.

On-loan Bournemouth striker Sam Surridge nodded home in the second minute of stoppage-time after Kieffer Moore’s penalty had cancelled out Nathan Dyer’s 12th-minute opener.

“Wigan have a great record here, and amassed a huge number of points here last season as well,” Swansea boss Steve Cooper said.

“Even though we planned to have more control, we knew there’d be moments we’d have to handle.

“And we were able to do that, maybe a little more than we would have liked, but we did it really well.”

Blackburn scored twice in the final two minutes to beat Sheffield Wednesday 2-1 and register their first win in seven matches.

The Owls were heading fourth when Jacob Murphy headed home from close range after Steven Fletcher had hit the crossbar, but goals from Tosin Adarabioyo and John Buckley sealed a shock win for Rovers.

Jarrod Bowen netted for the fourth consecutive game as Hull recorded a third successive victory with an impressive 3-0 win at Fulham.

Nottingham Forest returned to the top six following a 2-1 victory at Luton.

Joe Ralls bagged a hattrick to give Cardiff a 4-2 home comeback win over Birmingham in an eventful game in the Welsh capital.

Huddersfield continued their resurgence under Danny Cowley by ending Brentford’s three-match winning streak, with Karlan Grant’s ninth goal of the season sealing a 1-0 win.

A 2-0 defeat at Derby left Middlesbrough languishing in the relegation zone. Tom Lawrence’s double did the damage for Derby, while Middlesbrough had George Saville sent off in the first half.

Reading remain unbeaten under new boss Mark Bowen following a 2-1 win over Millwall.