Leeds climbed back into the automatic promotion places after winning 2-0 at Yorkshire rivals Sheffield Wednesday.

Patrick Bamford struck in first-half stoppage time and Willy Gnonto added a second after the break as Leeds extended their unbeaten league run in 2024 to 12 matches.

Daniel Farke’s side are two points behind Sky Bet Championship leaders Leicester after leap-frogging Ipswich, with their promotion rivals, including Southampton, due to play on Saturday.

Wednesday missed the chance to climb out of the bottom three for the first time since August, having won five of their previous six league matches, and their four-game winning run was halted.

The Owls were eight points adrift of safety after losing 4-0 at Huddersfield at the start of February, while the gap had been 12 points in November.

Owls fans will have observed a looming fixture against another local rival in Leeds with a sense of foreboding, but after Tuesday’s home win against Plymouth, this derby clash could not come soon enough.

Leeds looked to subdue a partisan home crowd by hogging the early possession, but Wednesday were first to carve out the first scoring chance.

Anthony Musaba pounced on a loose ball in the area following a corner and the Leeds goalkeeper brilliantly saved with his legs.

Leeds’ best effort before the goal fell to Georginio Rutter, whose lob having beaten the offside trap was saved by on-rushing Wednesday goalkeeper James Beadle.

Rutter then headed Crysencio Summerville’s corner narrowly over as Leeds pressed for the opening goal and their patient probing paid off in the fifth minute of added time at the end of the first half.

Junior Firpo whipped in a superb low ball across the face of goal from the left and Bamford finished at the far post for his seventh league goal of the season.

Leeds went straight on the offensive at the start of the second period as Rutter’s low shot forced Beadle into a low save and they doubled their lead in the 58th minute.

Rutter threaded a pass through for Gnonto after Bamford’s deft flick and the assistant referee’s flag stayed down as the Italy forward ran on to shoot beyond Beadle from just inside the box.

Leeds sliced through the home side’s defence again soon after, with Summerville thwarted by Beadle’s superb save, but the visitors were then indebted to skipper Ethan Ampadu.

The Wales defender cleared Owls substitute Michael Smith’s effort off the goal-line and blocked Djeidi Gassama’s shot as the Owls threatened for the first time in the second half.

Wednesday defender Marvin Johnson’s 20-yard effort flew narrowly over and at the other end Leeds substitute Connor Roberts’ low shot was inches wide as the visitors secured their first win at Hillsborough since 2016.

Skip to content
Sky Sports
Football

ANALYSIS
Leicester City, Leeds United, Ipswich Town and Southampton all still in race for two automatic-promotion places; watch Cardiff vs Ipswich live on Sky Sports Football from 12pm on Saturday; kick-off 12.30pm

Friday 8 March 2024 22:29, UK


There are now just 10 rounds of the Sky Bet Championship season remaining.

After the top three all claimed wins in another busy midweek round of second-tier action, we take a look at how the race for promotion to the Premier League is shaping up...

LIVE Championship table | Watch free highlights
Stream the Championship and more with NOW
Get Sky Sports | Download the Sky Sports App
How the league table has changed so far this season

Current standings
Upcoming fixtures
How & where to watch Championship on Sky
How & where to watch Championship on Sky
Here is how you can watch Sky Bet Championship matches live across Sky Sports in March and April as well as free match highlights throughout the season.

1st - Leicester, 81 points
Abdul Fatawu's wonder strike send Leicester through
Leicester looked as though they were champions-elect for much of the season and, until very recently, were on course to smash Reading's record of 106 points in a single Championship season.

ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE SAT 9, 12:30
PRICE BOOST
Man Utd v Everton
PRICE BOOST
BRUNO FERNANDES TO SCORE OR ASSIST
NOW 1/1
BET HERE
PRICE BOOST
ALEJANDRO GARNACHO 2+ SHOTS ON TARGET
NOW 3/1
BET HERE
PRICE BOOST
JORDAN PICKFORD 6+ SAVES
NOW 5/1
BET HERE
PRICE BOOST
MARCUS RASHFORD TO SCORE FROM OUTSIDE THE AREA
NOW 16/1
BET HERE

Max stake varies. See bet slip for details.
Odds subject to fluctuation. Further T&Cs apply. 18+
The wind has dropped from their sails over the last few weeks, but they edged Sunderland 1-0 on Tuesday to end a run of three straight defeats.

Sunderland 0-1 Leicester
Highlights of the Sky Bet Championship match between Sunderland and Leicester City
2nd - Leeds, 79 points

Leeds leapfrogged Ipswich into second with a 2-0 Yorkshire derby win over Sheffield Wednesday on Friday night and moved back to within two points of leaders Leicester with their 11th win in 12 Championship games.

Daniel Farke's side do not face any of their fellow automatic promotion contenders until they host Southampton at Elland Road on the final day of the season.

SHEFF WED 0-2 LEEDS UTD
Highlights of the Sky Bet Championship match between Sheffield Wednesday and Leeds United.
3rd - Ipswich, 78 points

Given Ipswich were only promoted from League One last summer, a rough patch was always on the cards and it came over a two-month period between December and February, when they won just once in nine games.

Also See:
Stream the Championship with NOW

LIVE Championship table

Watch free Championship highlights

Get Sky Sports on WhatsApp

They are, without a doubt, over that hill now and back within three points of the leaders after recording six wins on the bounce.

Thumbnail
Highlights of the Sky Bet Championship match between Ipswich Town and Bristol City
4th - Southampton, 70 points

Southampton boss Russell Martin looked to be under pressure when his side lost four in a row in September, although what came next proves patience is a virtue. Saints set a new club-record unbeaten league run (22) and also a club-record unbeaten run in all competitions (25)

They lost three of the four games that came before their trip to Birmingham, but kept themselves in the race thanks to Joe Aribo's 96th-minute winner at St Andrew's.


A huge fire has broken out near St Mary's stadium in Southampton just hours before the Saints were due to play Preston in the Championship. The game has been called off.
The Saints' clash with promotion rivals Preston was postponed on Wednesday after a fire broke out at a building adjacent to St Mary's Stadium.

Around 100 firefighters were tackling a blaze affecting four industrial units near the stadium just hours before Southampton were due to host the Lilywhites.

Southampton Highlights
Highlights of the Sky Bet Championship match between Birmingham City and Southampton.
The run-in
Last updated March 8, 2024



Who else is in the mix?
How does Opta see the final table looking?

Win £500,000 with Super 6!
Win £500,000 with Super 6!
The Super 6 Rollover returns! You could win up to £1,000,000 this month. Play for free.

ANALYSIS
Around Sky

Football
How to watch Premier League, F1, EFL, WSL and more
Stream with NOW
Get Sky Sports
Get Sky Sports
Other Sports
Get Sky Sports
Upgrade Now
Twitter Facebook
Sky Sports
Partners
Sky Sports Channels
More Sky Sites
Terms & Conditions Privacy & Cookies Notice Privacy Options Accessibility Information Contact Us
Sky Sports © 2024 Sky UK