Perez has Newcastle flying high as Norwich suffer loss
Newcastle moved three points clear at the top of the Sky Bet Championship yesterday with victory at home to Ipswich as promotion rivals Norwich slipped up at home to Preston. Ayoze Perez scored the fastest goal in the Championship this season, netting after just 60 seconds, and added a second in the 73rd minute to fire the Magpies to a fifth straight win. Matt Ritchie curled in another from Perez's pass as Newcastle won 3-0.
Norwich could not find a way past Preston at Carrow Road though and Alex Baptiste's 75th-minute header secured a fourth win in six games for North End, 1-0.
The Canaries slipped to fourth in the table as Brighton and Huddersfield clinched 1-0 wins away to Wigan and at home to Derby respectively. Dale Stephens grabbed the only goal for Brighton with a fine strike from 25 yards midway through the second half, while Elias Kachunga headed a stoppage-time winner for Huddersfield as Derby suffered their first defeat since Steve McClaren returned to the club.
Sheffield Wednesday are up to fifth after Gary Hooper's goal late in the first half was enough to beat Queens Park Rangers 1-0 at Hillsborough. Bristol City are also in the play-off places thanks to substitute Aaron Wilbraham's deflected 88th-minute winner the day after his 37th birthday saw off Blackburn 1-0.
Jonathan Kodjia's 80th-minute goal secured a 1-0 win for Aston Villa at home to Fulham as their revival under Steve Bruce continued. Kodjia's third goal in successive games inflicted Fulham's first away defeat of the season and gave Villa back-to-back wins for the first time since May 2015.
Kenny Jackett's first match as Rotherham manager ended in defeat as a late goal from Paul McShane clinched a 1-0 win for Reading at the New York Stadium. The Royals wasted the chance to take the lead when Garath McCleary's penalty was saved by Lee Camp, but McShane ensured there was no harm done when he prodded home from close range in the 86th minute.
Kemar Roofe grabbed his first goal for Leeds to earn a 1-0 win at Wolves, who have now gone five matches without a win, while Barnsley ended their miserable form with a surprise 2-0 win at Brentford. The Tykes had taken just one point from their previous six matches but Adam Armstrong put them in front in the 29th minute before Sam Winnall's second-half strike sealed the win.