West Brom, Leeds bolster promotion credentials
WEST BROMWICH ALBION cemented their position on top of the Championship with a 3-0 win at Bristol City as promotion rivals Leeds beat Reading 1-0 yesterday.
Albion sit four points clear of second placed Leeds and nine ahead of third placed Fulham in the race for the two automatic promotion places to the Premier League.
Callum Robinson headed Slaven Bilic’s side into the lead with 32 minutes gone at Ashton Gate and Hal Robson-Kanu doubled their advantage four minutes later.
Romaine Sawyers picked up a straight red card after 77 minutes when appearing to grab Jamie Paterson by the throat after being fouled by the City substitute but Robson-Kanu added the visitors’ third 11 minutes from fulltime.
Bilic blamed the reaction of Bristol head coach Lee Johnson and his staff for the dismissal of Sawyers but played down any bad feeling at the final whistle, saying: “There was no problem and I shook hands with Lee.
“If you ask me if I liked his reaction to the incident involving Romaine, I would say no, but maybe in his position I would have done the same.” Johnson, who attended his press conference hour and a half after the game, said: “Slaven is wrong if he attributes the sending-off to our reaction.
“If someone put his hands around one of my player’s throats, of course I am going to be angry.”
Leeds secured successive wins for the first time since December as Pablo Hernandez bagged the only goal in the 57th minute against Reading at Elland Road.
Marcelo Bielsa’s side opened up a five-point gap between themselves and third placed Fulham, who drew at Derby on Friday.
Fourth placed Brentford fought back from 2-0 down to salvage a point in a 2-2 home draw against Blackburn.
Adam Armstrong gave Blackburn an early lead and converted a second-half penalty, but the Bees hit back through Oli Watkins’ 21st league goal of the season and Said Benrahma’s spotkick.
Nottingham Forest drew 0-0 against QPR and stay in fifth place, level on points with Brentford and Preston, who beat Hull 2-1 at Deepdale.
Cardiff lost ground on the top six after losing 2-0 at Stoke.