Source: FOOTYMAD
Cardiff close the gap as the Pompey saga rolls on
Cardiff's 4-0 win at Leeds last night has done no more than keep them in second place in the league, but they are now behind leaders QPR on goal difference after the West London club could only draw at Bristol City last Friday. QPR did what top of the table teams do as the Championship weekend got underway in front of the Sky cameras at Ashton Gate last Friday, they scored a late win to rescue a point after a Jonathan Stead goal had seemed likely to give the bottom club a win.That took them three points clear of Cardiff but their win last night closed the gap completely and you'd suspect that the Welsh club could soon be clear favourites to win this league. Down at the bottom, we've seen Middlesbrough drop into the bottom three, replacing Preston who beat fellow strugglers Crystal Palace. One of the features of that game was the performance of referee Geoff Eltringham. He had a shocker at the Turf earlier this season and at Deepdale, in his second Championship game of the season, he had a shocker that was almost Milleresque.Tony Mowbray has been interviewed for the vacant Middlesbrough job but it is thought that his appointment would not go down too well in the dressing room. It appears the alternatives at the Riverside are Gary Megson, Phil Brown and Paul Ince after they seemingly gave up on getting former player Graeme Souness back.Norwich beat Swansea and they are in the play off positions with Swansea, Watford and Coventry. Our defeat has seen us drop to seventh with Coventry doing what we'd done four days earlier, beating Barnsley 3-0, taking our place.Finally, there has to be another look at Portsmouth after they hogged the headlines again on Friday when it appeared Sacha Gaydamak was ready to let them go under. It didn't happen and Balram Chainrai, the man who put them into administration and wiping out debts and screwing the creditors in the process, has now got it back on the cheap. The idiotic Football League sit there powerless again as another club cheats its way back in. Now there's talk of Chainrai looking to sell with former Hull chairman Paul Duffen interested. What a nonsense.The weekend stats are shown below with the leading goalscorers, each club's disciplinary record and the next fixtures.The Weekend ResultsFriday 22nd OctoberBristol City 1 QPR 1.Saturday 23rd OctoberBurnley 0 Reading 4Norwich 1 Middlesbrough 0Coventry 3 Barnsley 0Nottingham Forest 2 Ipswich 0Doncaster 2 Sheffield United 0Preston 4 Crystal Palace 3Hull 1 Portsmouth 2Swansea 2 Leicester 0Millwall 2 Derby 0Watford 0 Scunthorpe 2Monday 25th OctoberLeeds 0 Cardiff 4.The Weekend StatsBiggest winCardiff 4-0 v Leeds (away)Reading 4-0 v Burnley (away)Total goals scored34 (18 home - 16 away)Player scoring most goals2 - Jon Parkin (Preston)Highest Attendance25,410 - Norwich v MiddlesbroughLowest Attendance8,985 - Doncaster v Sheffield UnitedTotal Yellow Cards33Total Red Cards1Most cards in a gameBristol City v QPR (6Y) - Lee MasonThe leading scorers (league only)9Jay Bothroyd (Cardiff)8Chris Iwelumo (Burnley)Jamie Mackie (QPR)7Kris Commons (Derby) - includes 1 penaltyLewis McGugan (Nottingham Forest) - includes 1 penaltyJon Parkin (Preston)6Danny Graham (Watford)Billy Sharp (Doncaster) - includes 3 penaltiesScott Sinclair (Swansea)Davide Somma (Leeds)Marvin Sordell (Watford)5Luciano Becchio (Leeds)James Coppinger (Doncaster)Chris Eagles (Burnley) - includes 3 penaltiesHeidar Helguson (QPR) - includes 3 penaltiesAndy King (Leicester)Steve Morison (Millwall) - includes 1 penaltyHat 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 PRESTONDisciplinary Record (all domestic games)ClubYRClubYRBarnsley210Middlesbrough221Bristol City161Millwall222Burnley304Norwich160Cardiff141Nottingham Forest200Coventry231Portsmouth211Crystal Palace214Preston343Derby190QPR220Doncaster181Reading233Hull260Scunthorpe131Ipswich202Sheffield United192Leeds222Swansea301Leicester162Watford160The Next FixturesSaturday 30th OctoberBarnsley v Hull (17:20)Middlesbrough v Bristol CityCardiff v NorwichPortsmouth v Nottingham ForestCrystal Palace v SwanseaQPR v BurnleyDerby v WatfordReading v DoncasterIpswich v MillwallScunthorpe v LeedsLeicester v PrestonSheffield United v Coventry
