It has been another terrible week for Middlesbrough- two losses and the resignation of their manager Gordon Strachan. At the weekend they lost to Leeds 2-1 after goals from Becchio and Somma gave Leeds the three points. On Wednesday Middlesbrough lost away at Nottingham Forest 1-0 after a goal from McGuagan. This continued poor form from Middlesbrough leaves them in one place above the drop zone on goal difference.
Cardiff have managed to close the gap on QPR at the top of the table to two points. They did this with wins over Bristol City and Coventry. Against Bristol they went 2-0 down in the first ten minutes and came back to win 3-2 with goals from Bothroyd and a brace from Peter Whittingham. Further goals from Bothroyd and Whittingham followed to give them a win over Coventry 2-1.
A comparatively poor week for top of the table QPR with two draws being their yield. For a free scoring side it was a surprise to see them draw 0-0 twice inside one week. They drew with Norwich and Swansea. Despite these two results they still have a two point gap at the top of the table but that has been cut down from six by Cardiff.
Third in the table Watford had a mixed week with a win and a loss. At the weekend they lost to Portsmouth 3-2 after leading 2-1. Goals from Kitson and Brown condemned Watford to defeat. But they got their promotion hopes back on track with a 2-1 win over Ipswich with goals from McGinn and Sordell.
Burnley had a good week with a draw and win. They drew away from home at Sheffield Utd 3-3. However they will be very disappointed with this result because they led twice and they scored a 90th minute goal through Rodriguez to lead, only for a goal from Mark Yeates in the 94th to cost them two points. However, in the week they beat Barnsley 3-0 and a brace for Eagles helped them to the win.
Norwich had a poor week with a draw and loss. They drew with QPR, but they lost to struggling Crystal Palace 2-1, but despite these results they are still in the playoff positions. Swansea occupies the other playoff spot after a win and a draw. They beat Reading 1-0 at the weekend and drew 0-0 with QPR in the week.
Bristol City’s problems deepen and they are now propping up the table. They did manage to have a mixed week of encouragement though! They lost at the weekend to Cardiff 3-2 after having led 2-0. And on Tuesday they did beat Reading 1-0 after a goal from Danny Haynes. Just above them Preston’s troubles also continue with two losses. They lost to fellow strugglers Scunthorpe 3-2 after leading 2-1 and got well beaten at Derby 3-0.
Crystal Palace also occupy a place in the drop zone after a win and a loss. At the weekend they lost at home to Millwall 1-0. But in the week they got a very good 2-1 win over high flying Norwich. Leicester had a positively mixed week under their new boss Sven Goran Eriksson as they won one and drew one. At the weekend they drew with Hull with their ex boss Nigel Pearson returning in the opposite dug-out, that ended 1-1. Following that they travelled to Leeds and got a great 2-1 win.