{"id":585894,"date":"2021-03-07T04:48:22","date_gmt":"2021-03-07T09:48:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/?p=585894"},"modified":"2021-03-07T04:48:22","modified_gmt":"2021-03-07T09:48:22","slug":"norwich-reading-blackburn-star-in-championship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2021\/03\/07\/norwich-reading-blackburn-star-in-championship\/","title":{"rendered":"Norwich City, Reading and Blackburn Rovers Star in Latest Championship Game-Week"},"content":{"rendered":"

Norwich City,<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span>Reading<\/span><\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/span>Blackburn Rovers<\/span><\/a>\u00a0all starred in the latest Championship game-week. A weekend that proved to be positive for the division’s top six.<\/span><\/p>\n

Norwich City, Reading and Blackburn Rovers Star in Latest Championship Game-Week<\/span><\/h2>\n

Canaries Extend Winning Run to Seven<\/span><\/h3>\n

Norwich maintained their ten-point gap at the summit,\u00a0<\/span>winning 3-0<\/span><\/a>\u00a0in their seventh successive Championship victory, with\u00a0<\/span>Luton Town<\/span><\/a>\u00a0becoming their latest victims.<\/span><\/p>\n

After a bright start from their opponents, the hosts broke the deadlock in the 12th minute, when\u00a0<\/span>Teemu Pukki<\/span><\/a>\u00a0expertly hammered home from\u00a0<\/span>Todd Cantwell<\/span><\/a>‘s cut-back. The Finnish forward then grabbed his 20th goal of the season, two minutes before half time, when he reacted quickest to\u00a0<\/span>Emi Buendia<\/span><\/a>‘s deflected effort and converted from inside the six-yard box. Cantwell added a third in the 73rd minute, cutting in from the left flank and driving his effort past\u00a0<\/span>Simon Sluga<\/span><\/a>\u00a0in the Luton goal.<\/span><\/p>\n

With just 11 games to go, Premier League promotion looks like a certainty for the Norfolk club. They\u00a0<\/span>remain ten points clear of second place and 11 from third.<\/span><\/a>\u00a0For Luton, mid-table mediocrity seems the likely outcome from this season – a brilliant position for the Hatters to be in, given last season’s relegation scrap.<\/span><\/p>\n

Royals Cruise Past Ten-Man Owls<\/span><\/h3>\n

Julian Borner<\/span><\/a>‘s 29th minute red card played a massive part in Reading securing a comfortable\u00a0<\/span>3-0 win<\/span><\/a>\u00a0at home to\u00a0<\/span>Sheffield Wednesday.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Michael Olise<\/span><\/a>\u00a0dispatched the resulting penalty after Borner had mauled down\u00a0<\/span>George Puscas<\/span><\/a>, with the forward about to open the scoring anyway. Wednesday battled hard after being reduced, but it was the play-off chasing hosts who continued playing on the front foot.\u00a0<\/span>Lucas Joao<\/span><\/a>\u00a0netted his 21st goal of the season against his former club in the 65th minute, tapping home from\u00a0<\/span>Andy Yiadom<\/span><\/a>‘s pass. The right-back then added a third in the 88th minute to emphasise a good day’s work for the Royals, with his driven effort finding the bottom corner.<\/span><\/p>\n

The three points mean that Reading stay in fifth place and are a step closer to making the play-offs this season, despite\u00a0<\/span>Cardiff City<\/span><\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/span>Barnsley’s<\/span><\/a>\u00a0recent runs. For the Owls, the situation looks bleak. They remain seven points from Championship safety after losing their sixth successive game.<\/span><\/p>\n

Blackburn End Seven-Game Championship Winless Run in East London<\/span><\/h3>\n

Blackburn Rovers earned all three points at The Den with a\u00a0<\/span>2-0 win<\/span><\/a>\u00a0against a\u00a0<\/span>Millwall<\/span><\/a>\u00a0side who have turned their home ground into somewhat of a fortress of late.<\/span><\/p>\n

Bradley Back opened the scoring in the 18th minute, with his right-footed effort deflecting past Bartosz Bialkowski in the Millwall goal. As the game wore on, both teams pushed forward for that all-important second goal.\u00a0<\/span>Matt Smith<\/span><\/a>uncharacteristically nodded wide from a header, whilst Dack nearly had an easy tap in for his second, but for a perfectly-timed tackle. With 15 minutes to go,\u00a0<\/span>Sam Gallagher<\/span><\/a>\u00a0added a second in a rather fortuitous manner, when the ball pinged around in the box before hitting the towering forward and going in.<\/span><\/p>\n

Millwall are now 11 points from the play-offs, with the home loss seemingly ruling out the possibility of making the Championship top six. The victory for Blackburn, perhaps eliminates any relegation worries, after Rovers had only picked up a single point from their last seven games.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Main Photo<\/p>\n

Embed from Getty Images<\/a>