Soccer

Seanie Maguire scores again while Cardiff keep up the chase

Championship: No let up for Birmingham as Middlesbrough keep their winning run going

A fit-again Seán Maguire now has four goals in three games for Preston North End. Photograph: Getty Images

Sat Mar 10 2018 - 18:37

Aleksandar Mitrovic continued his stunning start to life at Fulham with both goals as the Cottagers snatched a 2-1 win at play-off chasing Preston.

Irish striker Sean Maguire continued his fine goalscoring form - grabbing his fourth goal in three games - but it wasn't enough for the Lilywhites to take anything from the game.

The on-loan Newcastle striker, Mitrovic, opened the scoring on 69 minutes and made it seven goals in five games in stoppage time to stretch Fulham’s unbeaten run to 15 matches.

Preston had equalised 15 minutes from time through Maguire - who only returned from a long-term hamstring injury last week - but they were unable to halt the Fulham juggernaut as they slipped four points adrift of the top six.

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Cardiff continued to pile the pressure on Championship leaders Wolves with a 3-2 victory over relegation-threatened Birmingham.

The Bluebirds had a sixth straight win wrapped up by half-time thanks to goals from Nathaniel Mendez-Laing, Craig Bryson and Callum Patterson.

Birmingham reduced the deficit early in the second half through Craig Gardner's penalty and Maxime Colin scored a second deep into stoppage time but Cardiff held on to move back to within three points of Wolves ahead of the leaders' derby clash at Aston Villa.

Middlesbrough consolidated their place in the play-off spots with a third successive victory to deepen Barnsley's relegation fears.

Daniel Ayala set sixth-placed Boro on their way in the first minute before in-form pair Adama Traore and Patrick Bamford put the hosts in full control.

Kieffer Moore got one back for Barnsley but the 3-1 defeat sees them remain a place above the bottom three.

Bristol City and Sheffield United lost ground on the top six following goalless draws at Burton and Ipswich respectively.

Millwall leapfrogged Brentford and stretched their unbeaten run to 11 games as George Saville scored in the first minute for the second time this week.

His previous such effort came on Tuesday against Hull, who on Saturday eased their relegation fears in thrilling fashion with a 4-3 victory over Norwich in a manic match.

Jackson Irvine put the Tigers in front early on but they found themselves 3-1 down with half-time approaching after James Maddison scored a second penalty to complete his hat-trick.

Abel Hernandez netted a spot-kick either side of the break to level the scores before Harry Wilson earned Hull a memorable win.

Sunderland remain rock bottom after Eberechi Eze netted the only goal to ensure QPR took advantage of goalkeeper Jason Steele's red card just after half-time.

Aaron Wilbraham's stoppage-time header earned lowly Bolton a 1-1 draw at Sheffield Wednesday, who thought they had sealed the points through George Boyd's 78th-minute strike.

Leeds appeared to be on course for a morale-boosting win at Reading only to draw 2-2 following Eunan O'Kane's own goal.

Pontus Jansson and Pablo Hernandez had scored either side of the break to cancel out Jon Dadi Bodvarsson’s opener.

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