Four weeks into the Championship season and the league continues to throw out surprises. While most of the attention will be heading towards the Premier League this week, England’s second tier has once again displayed its true entertaining self.
Matchday Four: Championship Round-Up
Reading and Bristol City Maintain Their Perfect Starts
Narrow victories for Bristol City and Reading ensured four wins out of four for both clubs. The Robins held on to a 2-1 lead at an empty but rather miserable City ground, whilst Reading earned a 1-0 win over promotion-favourites Watford.
The early successes of both clubs would come to a surprise as many. The majority would have expected a comfortable mid-table finish for both sides. However, with early confidence, the pair will be setting their sights much higher than first expected.
Sabri Lamouchi’s Job in Jeopardy
The scenario at Nottingham Forest has taken a drastic turn over the last few months. If we rewind to the 15th of July, Forest looked certain to cement a place in the 2019/20 Championship play-offs. With two games remaining, the club was five points clear of seventh place, and were virtually guaranteed a play-off spot. Two disappointing results later and Forest, who occupied the play-off positions for nearly the entirety of the season, fell out.
It was a hugely disappointing end to the season for the club, but with the agony came a great feeling amongst Forest fans that the 2020/21 campaign would be their year. However, four consecutive losses later and Sabri Lamouchi is in serious danger of losing his job. Despite all the negativity surrounding the club at the moment, Forest did show positive signs against the Robins. They created numerous chances and were unlucky not to equalise late into the second half.
The international break has come at a great time for them, and Lamouchi will be eager to address the issues that has resulted in a poor start.
Wycombe Wanderers Experiencing the Rigours of the Championship
From one struggling club to another, and it is Wycombe Wanderers who are proving their many doubters correct in the early stages of this season. A 2-0 defeat at Kenilworth Road, saw the Hatters jump to fifth, but kept Wycombe in 23rd. The Buckinghamshire-based club are yet to pick up a point and are also yet to record their first goal of the campaign.
Things near the bottom can be tough and Wycombe’s day was made even tougher with a disallowed goal that raised a few eyebrows. With five minutes left to play, Scott Kashket fired home from close-range, but was adjudged to be offside. It was certainly a close call, but Wycombe would have felt hard done by, especially with the Hatters going up the other end and scoring, subsequently finishing the game off.
Bournemouth’s Classy Display on Friday Night
Bournemouth remain unbeaten and oozed class in Friday night’s 3-1 win versus Coventry City. The hosts have shown that they are more than capable in competing in the Championship in their opening three fixtures. But, the Cherries produced a performance of real high-quality. A brace from Dan Gosling and a smart finish from Jefferson Lerma earned Bournemouth their third victory of the season.
The game was made harder for the visitors with Gustavo Hamer received his marching orders 20 minutes from time. It was a win that temporarily took Bournemouth to the summit of the Championship table. However, Bristol City regained their top of the table status on the day after.
Preston Incredible Fight-Back Ensured First Win
After a draw and two narrow defeats in Preston’s opening three games, a loss to Brentford on Sunday would have started to worry the North End faithful. And, when they were 2-0 down at half-time, not many would have imagined Preston securing a draw, let alone win.
Two Ivan Toney goals in the first half helped Brentford into a 2-0 lead at half-time. Despite creating a number of opportunities in the first half, the Lilywhites failed to capitalise. A revitalised and more clinical Preston then showed up in the second half. Four goals in 18 minutes, including two from Scott Sinclair, completed a bizarre turn of events. The Lilywhites ended up victorious with a 4-2 win and pushed Preston into their first victory of this Championship season.
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