Source: FOOTYMAD
More poor results for top teams
It was another week of disappointing results for the teams towards the top of the league. As Burnley suffered a second defeat in three weeks they were helped by Leeds losing at Sheffield United whilst both Cardiff and Norwich could only draw at Millwall and Hull respectively. Add to that Nottingham Forest's 3-2 defeat at Swansea and our defeat is not quite so damaging again and we still sit just three points behind the play offs with a game in hand.One to watch right now is Reading. Three successive wins and a run of seven games without defeat, which is very similar to our recent run, has moved them back up the table and they've sneaked into that place just behind the play offs, pushing us down to 8th. They are above us on goal difference and, like us, have a game in hand on the teams above them.Of those teams in the play offs, Cardiff for one have hit a patch of indifferent form. They failed to win any of their last four games, have won only two of their last eight, and they have both Jay Bothroyd and former Newcastle striker Michael Chopra on the injured list.If that's bad, what about Nottingham Forest. Four weeks ago they beat Cardiff to go second in the table. Since, they've picked up just four points from seven games. They now look the most vulnerable in the top six.Down at the bottom there's a stirring. Crystal Palace must have been relieved they managed a draw at Derby when they saw the results from elsewhere. A Darren Ambrose penalty secured the point before they learned that the bottom two Sheffield United and Preston had both won.It's like the bus service for Preston; they waited an age for a win to come and then two came at once. They are still in a perilous position but will have taken heart from Scunthorpe's defeat at Ipswich, the home side winning with two outstanding goals. The howitzer from Carlos Edwards reminded me of the one he hammered past Brian Jensen at Sunderland four years ago.We've got a two week break now before the final push for results at either end of the table. The weekend results are shown below with the stats, the leading goalscorers, each club's disciplinary records and the next fixtures.The Weekend ResultsSaturday 19th MarchBarnsley 0 Reading 1Leicester 0 Portsmouth 1Bristol City 2 Burnley 0Middlesbrough 2 Watford 1Crystal Palace 2 Derby 2Millwall 3 Cardiff 3Doncaster 0 QPR 1Preston 2 Coventry 1Hull 1 Norwich 1Sheffield United 2 Leeds 0Ipswich 2 Scunthorpe 0Swansea 3 Nottingham Forest 2The Weekend StatsBiggest winBristol City 2-0 v Burnley (home)Ipswich 2-0 v Scunthorpe (home)Sheffield United 2-0 v Leeds (home)Total goals scored32 (19 home - 13 away)Player scoring most goals2Fabio Borini (Swansea)Chris Burke (Cardiff)Highest Attendance26,645 - Leicester v PortsmouthLowest Attendance10,284 - Barnsley v ReadingTotal Yellow Cards41Total Red Cards3Most cards in a gameMillwall v Cardiff (6Y 1R) - Anthony TaylorThe leading scorers (league only)22Danny Graham (Watford) - includes 1 penalty18Shane Long (Reading) - includes 5 penalties16Luciano Becchio (Leeds)Grant Holt (Norwich) - includes 2 penaltiesScott Sinclair (Swansea) - includes 5 penalties15Jay Bothroyd (Cardiff)Bill Sharp (Doncaster) - includes 4 penaltiesAdel Taarabt (QPR) - includes 6 penalties14Max Gradel (Leeds) - includes 2 penalties13Kris Commons (Derby) - includes 2 penaltiesAndy King (Leicester)Steve Morison (MIllwall) - includes 1 penalty12Heidar Helguson (QPR) - includes 5 penalties11Chris Iwelumo (Burnley)Lewis McGugan (Nottingham Forest) - includes 2 penaltiesDavid Nugent (Portsmouth)Brett Pitman (Bristol City) - includes 3 penaltiesJay Rodriguez (Burnley)Davide Somma (Leeds)10Wes Hoolahan (Norwich) - includes 4 penaltiesLeroy Lita (Middlesbrough) - includes 2 penaltiesMarvin Sordell (Watford)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 City27th Nov3 - Grant Holt - NORWICH v Leeds28th Dec3 - Wes Hoolahan - NORWICH v Sheffield United1st Jan3 - Jason Puncheon - MILLWALL v Crystal Palace5th Feb3 - Matt Fryatt - Scunthorpe v HULL15th Feb3 - Connor Wickham - Doncaster v IPSWICHDisciplinary Record (all domestic games)ClubYRClubYRBarnsley572Middlesbrough531Bristol City492Millwall585Burnley694Norwich633Cardiff501Nottingham Forest571Coventry605Portsmouth686Crystal Palace696Preston765Derby652QPR596Doncaster413Reading614Hull672Scunthorpe462Ipswich584Sheffield United6210Leeds754Swansea572Leicester432Watford452The Next FixturesSaturday 2nd AprilBristol City v DoncasterLeeds v Nottingham Forest (12:45)Burnley v IpswichMiddlesbrough v LeicesterCardiff v DerbyNorwich v ScunthorpeCoventry v WatfordPreston v SwanseaCrystal Palace v BarnsleyReading v PortsmouthHull v Millwall (13:00)Monday 4th AprilQPR v Sheffield United
