{"id":587318,"date":"2021-03-21T05:07:50","date_gmt":"2021-03-21T09:07:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/?p=587318"},"modified":"2021-03-21T05:09:29","modified_gmt":"2021-03-21T09:09:29","slug":"rotherham-united-watford-cardiff-city-championship-game-week","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2021\/03\/21\/rotherham-united-watford-cardiff-city-championship-game-week\/","title":{"rendered":"Rotherham United, Watford and Cardiff City Star in Latest Championship Game-Week"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Rotherham United,\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2021\/03\/13\/watford-player-ratings-cardiff-city\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Watford<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0and\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2021\/03\/04\/mick-mccarthy-signs-new-cardiff-city-contract\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Cardiff City<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0all starred in the latest Championship game-week, in a round of fixtures where only two games were won by two or more goals.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>Rotherham United, Watford and Cardiff City Star in Most Recent Championship Game-Week<\/h2>\n<h3><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Rotherham United Strengthen Their Survival Push<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Rotherham made serious progress in their pursuit of Championship survival with a<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/sport\/football\/56383235\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a02-0 wi<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">n at\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2021\/03\/19\/danny-simpson-set-for-bristol-city-move\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Bristol City.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">In an evenly-contested first 45 minutes, it was the visitors who grabbed the all-important opener, when\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/fbref.com\/search\/search.fcgi?pid=b93da142,ffea470f&amp;search=Michael+Smith&amp;utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Michael Smith beat<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0Bristol City goalkeeper\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/fbref.com\/en\/players\/68db6358\/Daniel-Bentley?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Daniel Bentley<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0to\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/fbref.com\/en\/players\/45ac6fe1\/Wes-Harding?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Wes Harding<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">&#8216;s cross before glancing his header into the empty net.\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/fbref.com\/en\/players\/b6a8cf65\/Richard-Wood?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Richard Wood<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0secured the much-needed three points for the Yorkshire club in the 74th minute, heading in from Daniel Barlaser&#8217;s corner after Bentley had once again tried to punch away.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Defeat for the Robins meant they dropped down a place to 14th, whilst Rotherham United remain in 22nd place but are now just three points from safety with four-game in hand on Birmingham City in 21st.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>Hornets Continue Scintillating Form With Comfortable Victory Over Blues<\/h3>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Watford secured their ninth win out of their last ten with a convincing\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/sport\/football\/56383239\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">3-0 victory<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0over a\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2021\/03\/16\/birmingham-city-confirm-lee-bowyer\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Birmingham<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0side whose survival hopes are diminishing once more.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/fbref.com\/en\/players\/1770bd68\/Ken-Sema?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Ken Sema<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0opened the scoring in the fourth minute when he chased up\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/fbref.com\/search\/search.fcgi?pid=81255c03,c51a704e,31d1ed52,e8832875&amp;search=Jo%E3o+Pedro&amp;utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Joao Pedro<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">&#8216;s effort that was brilliantly saved by\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/fbref.com\/en\/players\/2642bf6c\/Neil-Etheridge?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Neil Etheridge<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0in the Birmingham City goal. Watford extended their lead in the 55th minute when\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/fbref.com\/en\/players\/422862ea\/Nathaniel-Chalobah?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Nathaniel Chalobah<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">added his third goal of the season with a power header from\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/fbref.com\/en\/players\/7fec31a0\/Dan-Gosling?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Dan Gosling<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">&#8216;s corner.\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/fbref.com\/en\/players\/c24dba2a\/Andre-Gray?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Andre Gray<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0completed the scoring within a minute of coming on when he latched onto\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/fbref.com\/en\/players\/3631ad41\/Jeremy-Ngakia?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Jeremy Ngakia<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">&#8216;s through ball and coolly slotted past Etheridge.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Victory for Watford has bridged themselves a six-point gap from Swansea City in third, as they continue their fight to bounce back at the first time of asking. For Birmingham, their situation is looking increasingly bleak. They may be above Rotherham, but the Yorkshire club&#8217;s four games in hand may prove vital.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>Cardiff City Win Bragging Rights in South Wales<\/h3>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Cardiff City put an end to four games without a win against<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2021\/02\/01\/swansea-city-sign-paul-arriola-on-loan-from-dc-united\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0Swansea Cit<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">y with a\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/sport\/football\/56383301\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">1-0 victory<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0to not just win the bragging rights, but to boost their play-off chances.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The opening goal and eventual winner came in the eighth minute after Swansea were unable to clear from\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/fbref.com\/en\/players\/7760b885\/Will-Vaulks?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Will Vaulks<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">&#8216; long throw. The ball eventually fell to\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/fbref.com\/en\/players\/952672e1\/Aden-Flint?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Aden Flint<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">, whose diving header flew past Freddie Woodman in the Swans goal. Both sides had opportunities to grab the all-important second goal, but the failure to convert made for a tense last few minutes before the sound of the final whistle.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Swansea sit six points off the automatic spots but still possess a game in hand on Watford. Cardiff&#8217;s play-off ambitions are still very much intact. They are now just four points off Reading in sixth and will be hoping to put a run together to cement that final spot.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Main Photo<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"3yACqdP9SMRUPp6lTNU92A\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.co.uk\/detail\/1231830750\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'3yACqdP9SMRUPp6lTNU92A',sig:'aIqjf5c1l5UWK7TkrzeUKZQUphzuvE7Dn7heZeKyt28=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'1231830750',caption: true ,tld:'co.uk',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Rotherham United,\u00a0Watford\u00a0and\u00a0Cardiff City\u00a0all starred in the latest Championship game-week, in a round of fixtures where only two games were won by two or more goals. Rotherham United, Watford and Cardiff City Star in Most Recent Championship Game-Week Rotherham United Strengthen Their Survival Push Rotherham made serious progress in their pursuit of Championship survival with a\u00a02-0 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3580,"featured_media":587319,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33,2509,32,23,25],"tags":[1318,537,927],"class_list":["post-587318","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-championship","category-cardiff-city","category-league-football","category-swansea","category-watford","tag-birmingham-city","tag-bristol-city","tag-rotherham-united"],"modified_by":"Billy Mulley, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/587318","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3580"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=587318"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/587318\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/587319"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=587318"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=587318"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=587318"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}