It was a derby weekend in the EFL Championship, with one of the oldest and one of the newest rivalries in League football. Here’s what you might have missed from the ninth set of matches in the EFL Championship.
All square in the Championships’ first “Hollywood” Derby
Pundits and fans alike had Friday night’s fixture circled on their calendars heading into the season, as the league’s two richest and newest members faced off in Wrexham on Friday night.
The “Hollywood Derby”, as it is now called, earned its name due to the celebrity ownership of both clubs: Wrexham AFC is owned by actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, and Birmingham City is co-owned by former NFL quarterback Tom Brady.
Birmingham City controlled over 75% possession in the opening ten minutes, patiently trying to pass their way through the Wrexham back five. The home side opted for a more direct approach, aiming to get the ball up the pitch quickly and attack down the wings.
A Wrexham corner in the 13th minute landed on the head of Max Cleworth at the penalty spot. He headed towards the goal where George Dobson waited just in front of the goalkeeper to apply a finishing touch with his head.
Birmingham City continued to dominate possession in the first half, but it was Wrexham who looked the better side, pressing the visitors high up the pitch and forcing errors.
However, just 20 seconds into the second half, Birmingham forced a turnover from the kickoff. The visitors got forward quickly, and Jay Stansfield played a through ball behind the recovering Wrexham defense and into the path of Patrick Roberts.
Roberts coolly slotted the ball past Arthur Okonkwo.
Defenses were on top for the remainder of the match; Robert’s early effort was the only shot on target in the second half.
It was a fair result, and Wrexham and Birmingham City now sit 16th and 18th in the table, respectively.
Coventry City smash five past Sheffield Wednesday and go top
The side with the most goals in the EFL Championship so far this season came up against the team with the worst defence when Frank Lampard’s Coventry City traveled to Hillsborough to face Sheffield Wednesday.
In the end, it was a dominant performance from the visitors, who, for the second game in a row, cut apart the opposition while controlling less of the ball and completing fewer passes.
The visitors took the lead just two minutes into the game. Matt Grimes delivered a corner into a good area, where Bobby Thomas rose to head towards goal. His header bounced off the boot of Brandon Thomas-Asante, who claimed the goal.
If his first was lucky, his second certainly wasn’t. Thomas Asante received the ball in the area in the 33rd minute, dribbling across two defenders before redirecting his shot back across the goal and into the bottom left corner.
Coventry got a third in first-half stoppage time, but it was a terrible decision from the referee. A cross into the box looped off Thomas-Asante’s head to Bobby Thomas at the back post, who headed back across the goal. Haji Wright tapped the ball in, but was blatantly in an offside position. Without VAR in the Championship, the goal stood.
That goal just before half-time killed off any small chance Sheffield Wednesday had of a comeback.
Coventry City got two more before the referee put them out of their misery. Ellis Simms scored a back-post tap-in in the 68th minute, and Tatsuhiro Sakamoto got their fifth with a cracking first-time effort in the 75th.
After Middlesbrough picked up their first loss of the season at Portsmouth, Coventry City jumped them to take up first place in the league with a remarkable record of 27 goals scored and just seven conceded.
Ipswich Town end 16-year wait for East Anglian Derby win
Despite playing in the Premier League more recently than their opponents, Ipswich Town hadn’t tasted victory against Norwich City in the East Anglian Derby, which first took place in 1902, for over 16 years. On Sunday, Kieran McKenna and his team aimed to end that poor run with a victory at Portman Road.
It was a tightly contested first half an hour, but Ipswich struck first in the 32nd minute.
Norwich City goalkeeper Vladan Kovacevic gave away a cheap corner after failing to punch away an Ipswich cross. Jaden Philogene delivered his corner to the back post, where Dara O’Shea headed back across the goal. Eventually, the ball landed right in front of center back Cedric Kipre, who lashed it home.
Norwich answered from a corner of their own three minutes later. The initial delivery bounced out to 19-year-old Danish winger Oscar Schwartau just outside the box.
Schwartau connected nicely on the volley, and a little deflection took it past Alex Palmer at his near post.
Just before half-time, Philogene won the ball in midfield, spinning away from Pelle Mattsson. He took three touches before releasing a thunderous strike from 30 yards out, which flew into the top left corner.
It’s a fifth goal in eight Championship matches this season for the talented 23-year-old English winger.
Norwich took more of a foothold in possession in the second half, but still weren’t creating enough clear-cut chances.
Ipswich continued to threaten on the counter and eventually got their third in the 77th minute. Iván Azon’s initial effort struck the post, but Jack Clarke fired in the rebound.
This win takes Ipswich up to ninth place, just two points off the playoff spots with a game in hand.
EFL Championship MD9 results
( ) = League position
- (18) Wrexham 1-1 Birmingham City (16)
- (21) Blackburn Rovers 1-1 Stoke City (5)
- (15) Hull City 1-0 Sheffield United (24)
- (23) Sheffield Wednesday 0-5 Coventry City (1)
- (10) Bristol City 1-2 Queens Park Rangers (6)
- (20) Derby County 1-1 Southampton (17)
- (8) Millwall 3-0 West Bromwich Albion (7)
- (14) Portsmouth 1-0 Middlesbrough (2)
- (4) Preston North End 2-0 Charlton Athletic (13)
- (12) Swansea City 1-3 Leicester City (3)
- (11) Watford 2-1 Oxford United (22)
- (9) Ipswich Town 3-1 Norwich City (19)
