Welcome back to EFL Round-Up by Last Word on Football. This column delves deep into the world of the Football League, looking at the key games from each of the three divisions as well as providing a brief overview of every result from the Championship, League One and League Two.
This week, we look at Swansea’s ten-man comeback on their trip to Millwall, the loss of the last remaining 100% start in the EFL and the Welsh side defying the odds in League Two.
EFL Round-Up – Gameweek 6
Swansea Battle Back at The Den
Ten-man Swansea battled back to take three points from Millwall with Ollie McBurnie continuing his excellent form to win it late on.
The Swans were down to ten after just five minutes when debutant Courtney Baker-Richardson was dismissed for a lunge on James Meredith, leaving the visitors to play 85 minutes without their young forward.
It took Millwall until the 62nd minute to find a way past the stubborn Swans, but did so when Murray Wallace headed in a nod-back from Shaun Williams’ corner, but it wasn’t long before Swansea found their route back into the game. Kyle Naughton drilled in 14 minutes later and it looked as though it had rescued a point.
It hadn’t, though, as Swansea went and stole all three away from the Lions when McBurnie struck with five minutes to go. A swift break from the visitors was finished off by the Scotland international, slotting past Ben Amos from Jefferson Montero’s pass.
Peterborough Lose 100% Start
The last remaining 100% start in the EFL was lost this weekend when Peterborough were held to a 1-1 draw at home to Doncaster Rovers.
Peterborough remain at the top of the table but are now level on points with second-place Portsmouth, while Doncaster are in seventh, two points outside the play-offs.
It was the visitors, managed by former Posh boss Grant McCann, who took the lead in this one through their main man, John Marquis. The striker was released by Mallik Wilkes and as Peterborough keeper Aaron Chapman raced off his line, Marquis dinked the ball over him to hand the visitors the advantage.
The hosts went into the break behind but it didn’t take much of the second half for them to find their feet and they were level before the hour mark. Ryan Tafazoli climbed highest to head Siriki Dembele’s free-kick past Marko Marosi.
That was the way it stayed. The Posh maintain their unbeaten start to the league and have already broken records for their previous 100% start, while Doncaster will be happy with their position in the table too as they look to disturb the play-off party.
Newport Up to Second After Away Win
Dan Butler’s goal early in the second half pushed Newport County up to second in Sky Bet League Two, defying their early season expectations.
Most betting sites had the Exiles down as a mid-table outfit prior to the season’s start, but Mike Flynn’s side have a well-documented history with defying expectations, having climbed from near-certain relegation candidates last season to the brink of the play-offs.
They took the lead in this one through Scot Bennett when he latched onto a loose ball, but they were pegged back before half-time against Port Vale when Tom Pope headed in from a corner.
The visitors recovered quickly following the break and just three minutes into the second half, they recovered their lead. Padraig Amond missed Mark Harris’ cross, but Butler was on hand to convert at the far post.
Elsewhere in…
The Championship
Sheffield United continued their impressive early-season form with a 4-1 win over Aston Villa. The Blades were 3-0 up by half-time courtesy of Jack O’Connell, John Fleck and Ollie Norwood, and Billy Sharp added one more after the break before Anwar El Ghazi’s consolation.
Derby County were victorious over Hull City for the second time in less than a week, adding a 2-1 victory to Tuesday’s Carabao Cup win over the Tigers, while Brentford and West Brom won by the same scoreline as the Rams against Nottingham Forest and Stoke City respectively.
Bolton battled back from two goals down to earn a point away at Preston, who had Ben Pearson sent off after the final whistle for his part in a fight that broke out between the two sides.
Sheffield Wednesday survived a late rally by Reading to hold on for the three points in a 2-1 away win, Wigan needed just a single goal to get past Rotherham at home and QPR held Birmingham to a 0-0 draw.
Finally, in Sunday’s fixtures, Ipswich and Norwich couldn’t be separated in the East Anglia derby, and Bristol City ran out 4-1 winners over Tony Mowbray’s Blackburn.
League One
Portsmouth were the biggest winners of the day as two goals from Ronan Curtis and one from Jamal Lowe helped them to a 3-0 win over Plymouth Argyle, who remain bottom of the league without a win.
Burton Albion joined Portsmouth with a 3-0 win as Stephen Quinn, David Templeton and Liam Boyce scored in their victory over AFC Wimbledon.
Barnsley and Fleetwood continued their excellent starts with 2-1 home wins against Gillingham and Bradford, while Charlton won by the same score on their visit to Roots Hall to take on Southend United.
A mistake from Wycombe’s Ryan Allsop allowed Luton to take a point from Adams Park in a 1-1 draw and it was the same score at Shrewsbury and Accrington, who were each held by Bristol Rovers and Scunthorpe.
Calvin Andrew’s goal just after half-time gave Rochdale three points when they travelled to Coventry and, finally, Walsall and Blackpool couldn’t be separated as they drew 0-0.
League Two
Lincoln City remain the pacesetters in League Two as they ran out 3-0 winners away at Exeter City thanks to goals from Lee Frecklington and John Akinde, and Troy Brown’s own-goal in the second half.
Crewe won by the same score in their home fixture against Macclesfield while Forest Green continued their positive start with a 3-1 win at Notts County, who had new manager Harry Kewell watching from the stands.
Colchester United were 3-1 victors at Cheltenham Town, Bury’s Dom Telford scored a brace in a 3-2 victory over Morecambe and there were away victories for Yeovil and Cambridge, both winning 1-0 at Grimsby and Stevenage respectively.
Swindon’s Elijah Adebayo struck deep into injury time to rescue a point against MK Dons in a 1-1 draw, Northampton also drew in their game against Tranmere, Oldham were 2-1 victors against Crawley and, finally, Mansfield defeated Carlisle by a single goal, scored by Tyler Walker.
Stats You May Have Missed
- Birmingham City are the highest-placed team yet to win a Championship game, drawing four of their six fixtures so far.
- Games involving Oxford United have produced an average of 3.67 goals per game, the joint-highest amount in any EFL relegation zone (same as Notts County in League Two).
- West Brom and Accrington are the joint-highest teams in their respective leagues yet to keep a clean sheet in the league (eighth).
- Joey Barton’s Fleetwood Town are now five games unbeaten following their opening day loss.
- Notts County have the lowest Points Per Game (PPG) in the EFL (0.17).
All stats from Footy Stats
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