Vital points for Blues thanks to late winner
BIRMINGHAM City head coach Lee Bowyer praised his players for pulling away from danger as they nicked three points in a late 1-0 victory against Rotherham United yesterday.
City took a huge step towards safety by netting a late winner against their relegation rivals.
Skipper Harlee Dean struck the decisive blow with 88 minutes on the clock as he powered in a header from Marc Roberts’ cross.
The defender had been vital at the other end, too, as he blocked a goalbound effort from Lewis Wing as Rotherham staged an early secondhalf siege on the Birmingham goal.
It is a disappointment for Paul Warne’s Rotherham, who were playing their fourth game in only eight days. But Derby County’s faltering form continues to give them hope, with the Millers only four points behind Wayne Rooney’s side with two games in hand.
After making it four wins out of six, Birmingham are now nine clear of the Millers, who occupy the final relegation place.
Bowyer said: “It’s a big win. I knew it was going to be a tight game with two teams pushing each other and wanting the three points.
“At this stage of the season, all I care about is winning and getting three points.
“We’re not safe until the table says you’re safe. We want to get as many points as quickly as we can until we are mathematically safe.”
Warne said: “I thought our performance was good. If you don’t score at this level there’s always the chance you will get done.
“I thought we didn’t deserve to be on the losing side of that game. If it was in October we would not be feeling as sore about it. We need points and wins and we just came up short.
“All the lads are hurting. They will lick their wounds and get ready for another battle.”
In yesterday’s other game, Coventry City also boosted their survival hopes with a 2-0 home win against Barnsley to climb up to 18th.
A late fightback by Swansea City at home to relegation-threatened Wycombe Wanderers could not deny Norwich City an instant return to the Premier League on Saturday afternoon.
Jamal Lowe and Liam Cullen struck in the final 10 minutes at the Liberty Stadium to earn the Swans a 2-2 draw but, with play-off rivals Brentford also drawing, it meant the Canaries were able to secure automatic promotion from the Sky Bet Championship without kicking a ball.
Admiral Muskwe and Garath Mccleary had put Wycombe two goals up to raise hopes Norwich would clinch a top-two finish ahead of their evening kick-off with Bournemouth and even though Steve Cooper’s side hit back, the draw leaves them third and 14 points off the leaders with four fixtures left in the regular season.
Victory for fourth-in-the-table Brentford at home to Millwall would have ensured the champagne stayed on ice at Carrow Road but Lions goalkeeper Bartosz Bialkowski only had one save to make at Griffin Park in a stalemate between the London rivals.
The good news for Norwich continued at Kenilworth Road with title rivals Watford losing 1-0 away against Luton Town.
James Collins scored a penalty in the 78th-minute to secure the Hatters bragging rights in the derby but ahead of kick-off a smoke bomb was thrown inside the ground while the players observed a minute’s silence in memory of the Duke of Edinburgh.
Kiko Femenia was shown a red card late on to compound a poor day for Watford, who stay eight points behind Norwich.
When the Canaries did eventually take the field, they suffered a 3-1 home defeat against Bournemouth.
Excellent second-half strikes from Arnaut Danjuma and Lloyd Kelly helped the Cherries come from behind to win at Carrow Road.
The Canaries took an early lead when Emi Buendia prodded home from Teemu Pukki’s superbly-timed flick.
However, Norwich left-back Dimitris Giannoulis was controversially sent off for catching Ben Pearson in a challenge and Sam Surridge tapped in a leveller for the visitors after Lloyd Kelly’s low cross caused confusion in the Canaries box.
Bournemouth went ahead through Danjuma’s wonderful run and shot into the top corner from 25 yards and Kelly arrowed in a low effort from outside the box to take the game beyond the leaders.
Despite their first defeat in 14 games, Daniel Farke’s Canaries will be crowned champions if they beat second-placed Watford at Carrow Road tomorrow night.
Sheffield Wednesday were denied a vital three points at home to 10-man Bristol City in their battle to beat the drop after Tyreeq Bakinson equalised for the visitors in the 87th minute.
The Owls, who remain without manager Darren Moore as he recovers from pneumonia as a result of Covid-19, went ahead with their first attack through Julian Borner’s fourth-minute header.
It could have been 2-0 when Henri Lansbury was sent off for giving away a penalty midway through the first half but Barry Bannan was denied from the spot and Bakinson hit a sucker punch when he fired in an equaliser late on.
Wednesday remain 23rd and seven points from safety, while Yorkshire neighbours Huddersfield Town boosted their chances of beating relegation with a 2-0 win away against Nottingham Forest.
Aaron Rowe broke the deadlock in stoppage time before the interval and Juninho Bacuna wrapped up the victory with a spectacular strike into the top corner midway through the second period.
Huddersfield are eight clear of the bottom three and only two points off Preston North End, who earned a point away against Stoke City.
It finished goalless at the bet365 Stadium but the hosts finished the game with 10 men after Harry Souttar was sent off for a professional foul.
Another mid-table clash between Middlesbrough and QPR went the way of the London club by a 2-1 score despite playing with a numerical disadvantage for most of the second half.
Mark Warburton saw his team race out of the blocks at the Riverside with Rob Dickie and Lee Wallace netting inside 18 minutes.
Everton loanee Yannick Bolasie reduced the deficit before half-time and when goalkeeper Seny Dieng saw red after he clashed with Duncan Watmore outside his area, it looked a tall order for QPR to hang on but Joe Lumley impressed between the posts to secure the win.