But that's exactly what happened in a midweek that saw Southampton pull further away at the top of the league. They won a tough game at Hull and I'm sure they thought they'd need to do that to keep top spot with seemingly unbeatable reading going to Peterborough.
It was not to be as Reading, having gone a goal up, fell to a 3-1 defeat to leave Southampton five points clear at the top of the league. Reading still hold a two point lead over West Ham who drew yet again, a fourth successive draw, at home to Middlesbrough who equalised late in the game.
Portsmouth were also surprising winners. They had picked up just three points from nine games going into their home game against Birmingham who are pushing for a top six place. Brum took an early lead but then uncharacteristically collapsed in the second half with four goals to secure a win that closes the gap to five points on fourth from bottom.
Now, we talk about second half collapses, but the goal avalanche at Elland Road takes some believing. Leeds took an early lead with Forest replying almost immediately then right on half time Forest went in front.
1-2 at half time, but within a quarter of an hour of the restart it was 3-5 and incredibly Forest went on to win the game 7-3. I can't think a Steve Cotterill side has ever scored so many goals in an away game and it is more than I've ever seen Burnley score in an away league game in all my years of watching the Clarets.
Garath McCleary got four of them and he matches Nikola Zigic of Birmingham who also got four earlier in the season. Where did he score his four? At Elland Road against Leeds with three of them coming in a seven minute burst.
The results over the two days have seen us slip to 16th in the table, our lowest placing since the end of November.
The results, stats, leading goalscorers, each club's disciplinary record, the highest and lowest attendances and the next fixtures are all below.
The Week's Results Tuesday 20th March Brighton & Hove Albion 2 Derby County 0 Leeds United 3 Nottingham Forest 7 Bristol City 0 Watford 2 Peterborough United 3 Reading 1 Crystal Palace 1 Barnsley 0 Portsmouth 4 Birmingham City 1 Doncaster Rovers 0 Millwall 3 West Ham United 1 Middlesbrough 1 Hull City 0 Southampton 2 Wednesday 21st March Blackpool 3 Leicester City 3 Ipswich Town 1 Burnley 0 Cardiff City 2 Coventry City 2The Week's Stats Biggest Win Nottingham Forest 7-3 v Leeds United (away) Total Goals Scored 42 (20 home - 22 away)
Player Scoring Most Goals
4 - Garath McCleary (Nottingham Forest) Highest Attendance 27,250 - West Ham United v Middlesbrough Lowest Attendance 6,717 - Peterborough United v Reading Total Yellow Cards 27 Total Red Cards 3 Most Cards in a Game Bristol City v Watford (5Y 1R) Ref: Oliver LangfordLeading Goalscorers (League Only) 24 Rickie Lambert (Southampton) - includes 9 penalties 15 Darius Henderson (Millwall) - includes 2 penaltiesRoss McCormack (Leeds United)Kevin Phillips (Blackpool)Jay Rodriguez (Burnley) - includes 3 penalties 13
Michael Chopra (Ipswich Town)David Nugent (Leicester City)
13Robert Snodgrass (Leeds United) - includes 2 penalties
12Marlon King (Birmingham City) - includes 2 penaltiesRicardo Vaz Te (West Ham United) - (10 with Barnsley)
11Craig Davies (Barnsley) - includes 1 penaltyMarvin Emnes (Middlesbrough)Matty Fryatt (Hull City) - includes 1 penaltyBilly Sharp (Southampton) - includes 1 penalty - (10 with Doncaster Rovers)Pete Whittingham (Cardiff City) - includes 3 penalties
10 Charlie Austin (Burnley)Ashley Barnes (Brighton & Hove Albion) - includes 3 penaltiesLuciano Becchio (Leeds United)Guly Do Prado (Southampton)Lukas Jutkiewicz (Middllesbrough) - includes 1 penalty - (9 with Coventry City)Robert Koren (Hull City)Adam Lallana (Southampton)Paul Taylor (Peterborough United)Chris Wood (Bristol City) - (9 with Birmingham City)Nikola Zigic (Birmingham City)Hat Tricks Date Player & Game 20/08/11 3: Lee Tomlin - PETERBOROUGH UNITED v Ipswich Town 10/09/11 3: Rickie Lambert - SOUTHAMPTON v Nottingham Forest 11/09/11 3: Chris Wood - BIRMINGHAM CITY v Millwall 12/10/11 3: Darius Henderson - Leicester City v MILLWALL 02/11/11 3: Jonjo Shelvey - Leeds United v BLACKPOOL 19/11/11 3: Rickie Lambert - SOUTHAMPTON v Brighton & Hove Albion 26/12/11 3: Matthew Phillips - Barnsley v BLACKPOOL 31/12/11 3: Ricardo Vaz Te - BARNSLEY v Leeds United 21/01/12 3: Darius Henderson - Barnsley v MILLWALL 31/01/12 4: Nikola Zigic - Leeds United v BIRMINGHAM CITY 26/02/12 3: Rickie Lambert - Watford v SOUTHAMPTON 17/03/12 3: Rickie Lambert - Millwall v SOUTHAMPTON 20/03/12 4: Garath McCleary - Leeds United v NOTTINGHAM FOREST
Disciplinary Record (League and Cup) Club Y R Y R Club Y R Y R League Total League Total Barnsley 50 1 53 1 Ipswich Town 49 5 50 5 Birmingham City 50 3 55 3 Leeds United 60 5 66 5 Blackpool 48 1 51 2 Leicester City 54 8 62 8 Brighton and Hove Albion 77 7 91 7 Middlesbrough 63 7 66 7 Bristol City 71 5 73 5 Millwall 64 2 71 2 Burnley 53 2 61 2 Nottingham Forest 51 4 56 4 Cardiff City 46 0 62 0 Peterborough United 43 2 46 2 Coventry City 46 2 48 2 Portsmouth 61 4 68 4 Crystal Palace 47 2 51 3 Reading 52 0 55 0 Derby County 51 1 51 1 Southampton 45 4 48 4 Doncaster Rovers 58 2 60 2 Watford 55 2 57 2 Hull City 56 1 61 1 West Ham United 54 6 57 7
Highest and Lowest Attendances Highest Lowest Att Fixture Att Fixture 34,936 West Ham United v Coventry City (02/01) 6,351 Peterborough United v Cardiff City (18/10) 34,900 West Ham United v Crystal Palace (25/02) 6,392 Peterborough United v Millwall (06/03) 34,749 West Ham United v Barnsley (17/12) 6,717 Peterborough United v Reading (20/03) 34,650 West Ham United v Doncaster Rovers (10/03) 7,004 Peterborough United v Bristol City (18/02) 33,465 West Ham United v Portsmouth (10/09) 7,540 Peterborough United v Blackpool (10/03) 33,366 Leeds United v West Ham United (17/03) 7,555 Peterborough United v Portsmouth (28/01) 33,010 Derby County v Southampton (15/10) 7,572 Doncaster Rovers v Millwall (20/03) 33,010 Derby County v Leeds United (26/12) 7,650 Doncaster Rovers v Watford (26/11) 33,010 Derby County v Nottingham Forest (17/03) 7,778 Doncaster Rovers v Bristol City (27/08) 32,875 West Ham United v Southampton (14/02) 7,901 Peterborough United v Burnley (17/09)
The Next Fixtures Saturday 24th March Barnsley v Peterborough United Millwall v Leeds United Burnley v West Ham United Nottingham Forest v Brighton & Hove Albion Coventry City v Portsmouth Reading v Blackpool Derby County v Crystal Palace Southampton v Doncaster Rovers Leicester City v Hull City Watford v Ipswich Town Middlesbrough v Bristol City Sunday 25th March Birmingham City v Cardiff City (12:00)
Source: FOOTYMAD
