An Abdul Fatawu-inspired Leicester City thrashed Southampton, Crysencio Summerville again starred in a Leeds United win and Coventry City returned from Wembley with a huge thud. All this and more from the latest round of the Championship...
LOANEE OF THE ROUND
Abdul Fatawu (Leicester on loan from Sporting CP)
I don't normally start with the 'loanee of the round' segment in these columns but what I saw on Tuesday night implored me to change the running order. It was a huge night at the King Power with Leicester City facing Southampton and it was a huge performance from on loan winger Abdul Fatawu. The stakes were through the roof with Leicester knowing that a win would put them one game away from promotion, and barring a mathematical miracle, would rule Southampton out of the race for the top two.
Leicester duly delivered a 5-0 demolition of Southampton with the on loan Fatawu putting in one of the best individual performances I've seen all season. Admittedly his opener had a hint of offside to it but his brilliantly curled second goal to put Leicester 3-0 up hinted at nothing other than a player in fabulous form.
With the Saints defence not knowing whether to stick or twist up against his dribbling, Fatawu stood still and put an expected cross in for Jamie Vardy to shoot Leicester 4-0 in front and he finished his hat-trick showing great hunger to round off a counter attack with Southampton looking completely punch drunk. It looks like the heavy lifting is done now for Leicester and they just have to step over the finish line, a virtuoso night from Fatawu has made that last step a little more comfortable than it had looked a week or two back.
PLAYER OF THE ROUND
Crysencio Summerville (Leeds United)
While Abdul Fatawu was making the headlines from the right wing for Leicester on Tuesday night, Cry Summerville had put in a decisive display from the left wing for Leeds United on Monday night. If Leeds can finish the job and secure promotion to the Premier League much credit will be due to Summerville. His numbers now total 19 goals and 9 assists in a season that has already seen him scoop the Player Of The Season award from his fellow colleagues in the Championship.
It was classic, nerve wracking, end of season stuff against Middlesbrough at the Riverside. Boro led early but Summerville stepped up from the penalty spot to level things shortly afterward. Bamford and Latte-Lath each added goals to make it 2-2 after just thirty minutes and Willy Gnonto rounded off a crazy five goal first half by putting Leeds 3-2 up with Boro left to lament what looked like a pretty straightforward offside call to disallow the goal.
Leeds played the second half cleverly, sacrificing possession in an attempt to try and catch Boro out and in Summerville they had the perfect player to do that. Championship fans will almost take for granted the ease at which the Leeds winger can cut in from the left and curl into the far corner. It's all well and good knowing about Summerville's party trick but stopping it is 'easier said than done'.
Boro did bring it back to 4-3, but Leeds took the vital three points thanks to Summerville's double. There are still five combined games to play for Leeds and third placed Ipswich and should the Tractor Boys pull out a perfect nine point week to round off the season then there's nothing even Summerville can do to stop them. But I'd draw an analogy with stopping the trademark Summerville cut in and finish manoeuvre, winning your final three games in a high pressure promotion chase is most certainly another case of 'easier said than done'.
TEAM OF THE ROUND
For those involved in the relegation scrap, Sheffield Wednesday's win at Blackburn was the absolute last thing they wanted to witness. For the neutral, it opened what has already been a thrilling race for survival to a potentially exhilarating climax that could go right down to the final kick of the season.
The Owls showed up at Ewood Park knowing that a win would simultaneously take them out of the bottom three and keep Blackburn in the mix for another week. It was bonkers stuff from then on out, with Josh Windass brilliantly lobbing the opener, goal machine Sammie Szmodics equalising, before a second half breakaway goal by Marvin Johnson and an own goal for the ages by Rovers keeper Aynsley Pears.
Amazingly it's still two from seven for relegation in the Championship with two rounds of the season remaining. At the top of that list are Stoke and QPR who should likely be safe with their 50 point totals but that's not mathematically confirmed just yet. Blackburn know a win against Coventry at the weekend will probably get the job done but once again there are scenarios that mean even beating the Sky Blues might not see Rovers safe at the end of round 45.
We have a nerve jangling head to head between Huddersfield and Birmingham that guarantees one of those sides will pass Sheffield Wednesday's current total of 47 points and put them in the bottom three if they were to lose to West Brom. Meanwhile Plymouth could be badly at risk if they lose at a Millwall side who are in form but did confirm their own survival last weekend. It's going to be messy and at least one of the relegation spots is going to be decided on the final day.
TALKING POINT OF THE ROUND
Coventry Chaos
Coventry returned to the Championship after what has been widely considered a heroic FA Cup semi-final performance at Wembley against Manchester United. With the game looking dead and buried at 3-0 with 20 minutes remaining, the Sky Blues made a mind blowing comeback to score three times and take it to extra time.
Not only that but it looked as though they'd won with seconds remaining only for Victor Torp's goal to be ruled out by VAR for the most marginal of offside calls. It wasn't meant to be for Coventry as they lost on penalties and returned to Championship action with a home game against Hull City.
The home fans welcomed back their valiant FA Cup heroes to the CBS but it looks as though some mental tiredness had crept into the brains of the Coventry backline. All three of the goals conceded in the 3-2 defeat to Hull would go in the 'preventable' category with keeper Brad Collins badly fumbling the opener from Jaden Philogene, Joel Latibeaudiere taking out Liam Delap for a penalty for the second, and Bobby Thomas's back pass being woefully short for Hull's third.
The defeat for Coventry means they are nine points off Norwich and West Brom in the play-off spots with three games to go and unless we see an unlikely set of results their season is all but guaranteed to end outside the top six. Coventry's loss was literally and metaphorically Hull's gain as the Tiger's look to make a late leap and claw their way into the end of season party with a very late surge upwards.
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