Source: FOOTYMAD
Cardiff back on top as QPR draw again
It was certainly a weekend for the Welsh clubs in the Championship with Cardiff returning to the top after winning at Scunthorpe and Swansea closing the gap with a win against Middlesbrough. The big talking point though came in the game between Reading and Norwich. The Championship weekend got off to a start on Friday night at Deepdale and a game that would see Preston hit rock bottom after their sixth home defeat of the season against a hardly inspiring Hull side.Things have certainly changed their during our absence from the Championship for a side who, since winning promotion with us in 2000 have only once had anything like a relegation battle. That looks very much to be the case this season, certainly on the evidence of that performance.They are now three points behind the field, with Crystal Palace and Bristol City occupying the other two relegation places. For Palace, however, it's been a good week since their underserved defeat at Middlesbrough as they recorded their second home win in four days. This one was somewhat fortunate with referee Pat Miller having a major influence on the result.Up at the top, QPR have caught the Burnley habit of drawing too many games. Saturday's at Nottingham Forest was their sixth in seven games. They remain unbeaten but have now lost top place again after Cardiff's win at Scunthorpe.They had the game won very early as they went into a 3-0 lead, although credit to Scunthorpe who did come back with two goals of their own before Cardiff got a fourth. Their main challengers for the title could yet come from just down the M4 at Swansea. They beat Middlesbrough yesterday and are now only three points behind QPR.The talking point I referred to was the red card shown to Norwich's Grant Holt in their 3-3 draw at Reading. It came right on half time when they led 3-1 and, quite frankly, was a nonsense. Still, we shouldn't have been surprised; the referee was Michael Oliver after all.If in any doubt this referee gets his cards out and that was his sixth red card in twelve games this season. There's already been one successful appeal made against one of his red cards, that of West Brom's Pablo Ibanez, and surely this will be another.The other red card came in Portsmouth's home defeat against Doncaster where big friends Steve Cotterill and Sean O'Driscoll faced each other. Cotterill claimed that Donny's David Healy got Carl Dickinson sent off but that comment is utter tripe. The only player who got Dickinson sent off was Dickinson himself. That both Healy and Mark Wilson should have both been sent off by referee Graham Scott for their reaction is hardly a defence for the challenge from the Pompey defender.The weekend games have seen us return to the top six. There are no midweek games this week with the Clarets now looking to end that away drought next week at Coventry.he results, stats, leading scorers, each club's disciplinary record and the next fixtures are all shown below.Friday 12th NovemberPreston 0 Hull 2.Saturday 13th NovemberBurnley 3 Watford 2Millwall 0 Sheffield United 1Crystal Palace 2 Coventry 0Nottingham Forest 0 QPR 0Ipswich 1 Barnsley 3Portsmouth 2 Doncaster 3Leeds 3 Bristol City 1Reading 3 Norwich 3Leicester 2 Derby 0Scunthorpe 2 Cardiff 4Sunday 14th NovemberSwansea 1 Middlesbrough 0.The Weekend StatsBiggest winBarnsley 3-1 v Ipswich (away)Cardiff 4-2 v Scunthorpe (away)Crystal Palace 2-0 v Coventry (home)Hull 2-0 v Preston (away)Leeds 3-1 v Bristol City (home)Leicester 2-0 v Derby (home)Total goals scored38 (19 home - 19 away)Player scoring most goals3 - Lucian Becchio (Leeds)Highest Attendance27,567 - Leeds v Bristol CityLowest Attendance5,333 - Scunthorpe v CardiffTotal Yellow Cards40Total Red Cards2Most cards in a gamePortsmouth v Doncaster (5Y 1R) - Graham ScottThe leading scorers (league only)13Jay Bothroyd (Cardiff)9Kris Commons (Derby) - includes 1 penaltyChris Iwelumo (Burnley)8Luciano Becchio (Leeds)Jamie Mackie (QPR)Lewis McGugan (Nottingham Forest) - includes 1 penaltyScott Sinclair (Swansea)7Danny Graham (Watford)Amdy King (Leicester)Jon Parkin (Preston)6James Coppinger (Doncaster)Adam Hammill (Barnsley)Liam Lawrence (Portsmouth) - includes 4 penaltiesSteve Morison (Millwall) - includes 1 penaltyBilly Sharp (Doncaster) - includes 3 penaltiesDavide Somma (Leeds)Marvin Sordell (Watford)Jonathan Stead (Bristol City)Adel Taarabt (QPR) - includes 4 penalties5Kris Boyd (Middlesbrough)Chris Eagles (Burnley) - includes 3 penaltiesJames Hayter (Doncaster)Heidar Helguson (QPR) - includes 3 penaltiesJonny Howson (Leeds)Jason Scotland (Ipswich)Hat Tricks (league only)11th Sep3 - Chris Iwelumo - BURNLEY v Preston14th Sep3 - James Coppinger - DONCASTER v Norwich14th Sep3 - James Vaughan - CRYSTAL PALACE v Portsmouth28th Sep3 - Jon Parkin - Leeds v PRESTON30th Oct3 - Jonny Howson - Scunthorpe v LEEDS13th Nov3 - Luciano Becchio - LEEDS v Bristol CityDisciplinary Record (all domestic games)ClubYRClubYRBarnsley280Middlesbrough281Bristol City201Millwall292Burnley374Norwich232Cardiff191Nottingham Forest240Coventry281Portsmouth283Crystal Palace284Preston425Derby300QPR302Doncaster221Reading283Hull341Scunthorpe181Ipswich272Sheffield United232Leeds282Swansea411Leicester212Watford210The Next FixturesSaturday 20th NovemberBarnsley v PortsmouthHull v IpswichBristol City v LeicesterMiddlesbrough v MillwallCardiff v Nottingham ForestNorwich v LeedsCoventry v BurnleyQPR v PrestonDerby v ScunthorpeSheffield United v Crystal Palace (17:20)Doncaster v SwanseaWatford v Reading
