Championship roundup: Solanke fires Bournemouth back into top two
Dominic Solanke scored his 20th goal of the season to help 10-man Bournemouth move back into second place in the Championship with an incidentpacked 3-1 win at home to Birmingham.
Ryan Christie and Jaidon Anthony were also on the scoresheet as the Cherries made amends for Sunday’s shock FA Cup defeat at home to non-league Boreham Wood. The hosts had Colombian midfielder Jefferson Lerma sent off in the second half two minutes before Onel Hernandez briefly made it 2-1.
Scott Parker was pleased with how his side responded to the Boreham Wood defeat. The Bournemouth manager said: “I asked my players to give us a reaction and give the fans a reaction to what happened on Sunday and I thought in the first half we were exceptional. Two at half-time could easily have been three or four.
“The second half changed the game but even after they scored we showed big character to score and make it 3-1. That gave us a bit of oxygen and from there we had to hold on. I am very pleased with the result and the reaction of the team because after Sunday the players were broken a little bit and disappointed. They proved a point tonight.”
Bournemouth are back up into the automatic promotion spots thanks to Blackburn being beaten 2-0 at Ewood Park by Nottingham Forest, who are now in the play-off places.
James Garner gave Forest the halftime lead before Rovers were reduced to 10 men with a red card for defender Darragh Lenihan. Brennan Johnson made sure of all three points from the penalty spot in stoppage time. The game was marred, however, by a bottle being thrown at the Forest goalkeeper Brice Samba.
The Forest manager, Steve Cooper, said: “I thought we more than deserved the win today. Second half especially after the 10 men, really we should have run away with it, we could have and should have scored four or five.”
The Blackburn manager, Tony Mowbray, said: “We missed some amazing chances to score in the game. We have to accept it’s not quite going our way at the moment, some of the situations where we had really good chances.”
Sheffield United’s play-off charge continued with a 2-0 victory against West Brom at Bramall Lane. A Billy Sharp double means the Blades are just a point off the top six, while the defeat saw Albion’s woes continue as they slipped out of the play-off places.
Jake Livermore’s red card just before half-time did not help West Brom’s cause in Steve Bruce’s first game back in football. Bruce disagreed with referee Leigh Doughty’s decision to send off Livermore and suggested the club might appeal against the dismissal after arguing it changed the course of the contest.
“Up until the red card, even though we were a goal down, I thought we were the better side,” he claimed. “I also thought the red card was harsh. I felt it was a decent challenge and there was one close to me 15 minutes earlier that the referee did not even give a free-kick for, let alone a yellow card, so it’s about the consistency you’re always looking for.
“I don’t think Jake’s tackle was dangerous or reckless at all and he’s also got to bear in mind that, when you give a red card, it spoils the spectacle, because it was a good game up to then, but playing with 10 men gave us a lot to do.”
Middlesbrough twice came from behind to draw 2-2 at QPR. Ilias Chair and Chris Willock scored for the hosts but Dael Fry and an own goal from Albert Adomah saw them pegged back.
Joe Ralls, Aden Flint, Jordan Hugill and Uche Ikpeazu scored Cardiff’s goals as they won the big game towards the bottom of the table, overcoming Peterborough 4-0.
Reading remain two points above Peterborough and out of the relegation zone after they lost 2-1 at Bristol City. Antoine Semenyo and a Michael Morrison own goal put the hosts in control before John Swift pulled a goal back from the penalty spot.
Huddersfield stay in the play-off places despite a goalless draw at Preston.