DERBY COUNTY’S BID for promotion was hit by another setback this afternoon as Frank Lampard’s side went down 4-0 at Aston Villa.
Republic of Ireland international midfielder Conor Hourihane scored twice for Villa, who netted all four of their goals in the first half of the Championship fixture.
Hourihane opened the scoring in the ninth minute and added another on 44 minutes to make it 3-0, after Tammy Abraham had doubled the advantage. Jack Grealish hit a superb goal on the stroke of half-time.
Derby, who stay in seventh place, have now suffered three league defeats on the trot. The result leaves 11th-placed Villa six points outside the play-offs.
After Leeds United claimed top spot last night by defeating West Bromwich Albion, Norwich City returned to the summit this afternoon thanks to a 3-1 victory at Millwall.
Marco Stiepermann’s opener for Norwich was cancelled out by Ireland midfielder Shaun Williams, but the visitors took all three points after second-half goals from Christoph Zimmerman and Teemu Pukki.
Elsewhere, Stoke City were 2-0 winners against Martin O’Neill’s Nottingham Forest, while Darren Randolph kept his 16th clean sheet of the season as fifth-placed Middlesbrough had to settle for a goalless draw against relegation-threatened Wigan Athletic.
In League One, Irish striker James Collins — the division’s leading goalscorer — was on the mark for the 20th time this season as Luton Town maintained their five-point lead with a 2-0 victory at home to Rochdale.
Bury’s Jay O’Shea, Newport County’s Padraig Amond and John Joe O’Toole of Northampton Town all scored to help their teams to victories against Macclesfield Town (3-0), Crewe Alexandra (0-2) and Carlisle United (2-0) respectively.
Championship results
- Aston Villa 4- 0 Derby County
- Brentford 3- 0 Queens Park Rangers
- Hull City 2-0 Birmingham City
- Ipswich Town 1-2 Reading
- Millwall 1-3 Norwich City
- Preston North End 1-1 Bristol City
- Rotherham United 3-2 Blackburn Rovers
- Stoke City 2-0 Nottingham Forest
- Swansea City 2-0 Bolton Wanderers
- Wigan Athletic 0-0 Middlesbrough
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