Championship roundup: Pukki on fire as Norwich move 10 points clear
London, Feb 23, 2021 (AFP) - Teemu Pukki scored twice to take Norwich 10 points clear at the top of the Championship as the leaders beat struggling Birmingham 3-1 at St. Andrew's on Tuesday.
Pukki opened the scoring and also missed a penalty before Ivan Sanchez's equaliser for the home side.
The Finnish striker made amends with his sixth goal in his last four games 14 minutes from time before Oliver Skipp made it 3-1 with virtually the last kick of the game.
Brentford, Watford and Swansea all have games in hand to cut the gap at the top on Wednesday, but Daniel Farke's men are in pole position for an immediate return to the Premier League.
At the other end of the table, Wayne Rooney's fine start to his managerial career at Derby continued with a 2-0 win over Huddersfield to pull eight points clear of the drop zone.
The Rams were bottom of the table when the former England and Manchester United captain took temporary charge in November before being handed the role on a permanent basis in January.
But four consecutive home wins have hauled Derby up to 18th as goals from George Edmundson and Martyn Waghorn lifted Derby above Huddersfield in the table.
Nigel Pearson's Bristol City reign does not really start in earnest until tomorrow, but the new Robins boss could not have wished for a more immediate impact as his presence at the Riverside Stadium helped inspire his new side to a 3-1 win over Middlesbrough.
City ended a seven-game losing run as they tore the promotion-hunting Teessiders apart, with all three of their goals coming in a 16-minute period in the first half.
Famara Diedhiou scored the first two and then set up the third as he sent Nahki Wells racing clear of the Boro backline.
Fifth-placed Reading's promotion push suffered the latest in a series of setbacks as they lost 1-0 at bottom-of-the-table Wycombe.
Fred Onyedinma's poacher's effort earned Wanderers just their fifth win of the season and left them eight points from safety.
Wycombe lost Ryan Tafazolli to a red card 21 minutes from time, while Reading's Lucas Joao and Wycombe's Uche Ikpeazu both missed penalties.
Milwall are seven points off the playoff places after snatching a 1-1 draw at Luton thanks to George Evans's 95th-minute equaliser.
Nottingham Forest moved up to 16th with a 1-0 win at Rotherham.