Garath McCleary scored four as relegation-threatened Nottingham Forest put a spectacular end to Neil Warnock's Leeds United honeymoon with a 7-3 npower Championship win at Elland Road.
Robert Snodgrass had put Leeds in front after six minutes but Adlene Guedioura equalised two minutes later and McCleary scored his first on the stroke of half-time to give Forest the edge.
In a stunning spell of five goals in eight minutes, Dexter Blackstock put Forest further ahead, Luciano Becchio and Michael Brown pulled it level for Leeds, then McCleary completed his hat-trick to make it 5-3 on the hour-mark. McCleary added his fourth on 71 minutes and Blackstock completed the rout with his second and his side's seventh nine minutes from time.
Southampton took advantage of slip-ups from promotion rivals Reading and West Ham to stretch their lead at the top to five points with a straight-forward 2-0 win at Hull. A 14th minute own goal from Jack Hobbs gave Saints a 14th minute lead and Jos Hooiveld added his side's second on the 59th minute mark.
Reading suffered their first loss in 11 Championship games in a surprise 3-1 reverse at Peterborough. Noel Hunt put the Royals ahead but goals from George Boyd, Tyrone Barnett and Paul Taylor won it for Posh.
West Ham stayed third after their fourth consecutive 1-1 draw. Abdoulaye Faye's 67th minute header gave them the lead at home to Middlesbrough, but Bart Ogbeche's 84th minute equaliser earned Boro a point.
Crisis club Portsmouth claimed their first win in 10 in emphatic fashion with a 4-1 win over promotion-chasing Birmingham. Nikola Zigic gave Birmingham a seventh minute lead but Chris Maguire and David Norris turned it round for Pompey. After Blues had David Murphy sent off, the hosts made sure with further strikes from Kelvin Etuhu and Marko Futacs.
Brighton were the main beneficiaries of the night as they jumped from ninth to fourth with a 2-0 home win over Derby. Inigo Calderon opened the scoring on 10 minutes and Ashley Barnes added a second on 66.
Millwall eased their relegation fears with goals from Andrew Keogh, Harry Kane and Darius Henderson giving them a 3-0 win over fellow strugglers Doncaster.
Watford won 2-0 at Bristol City thanks to a David James own goal and a strike from Sean Murray, while Sean Scannell's last minute header earned Crystal Palace a 1-0 win over Barnsley.
Source: PA
