The key facts

  • West Ham — favourites for promotion to the Premier League — lost at home to West Bromwich 1:3 and sit eighth, holding only a play-off place
  • Middlesbrough kept first place, with Will Lankshire reaching 15 goals for the season
  • Southampton, who started with a four-point deduction, beat Queens Park Rangers 4:1 and remain fifth

A defeat that increased the pressure on Nuno

West Ham head coach Nuno Espirito Santo came under fresh pressure after Saturday's 1:3 home defeat to West Bromwich, AFP reports. The team, tipped before the season for an immediate return to the Premier League, sit only eighth after this match, six points off the top, and are clinging to a play-off place. Whistles rang out at the London Stadium at the final whistle: the goals were scored by Felix Horn Myhre, Jimmy-Jay Morgan and Callum Styles — the latter with a 20-metre strike after a deflection. West Ham briefly levelled through Jarrod Bowen's effort.

The leaders and the chasers

Middlesbrough kept top spot, thrashing Charlton 3:0 at home: Sebastian Bergalter opened the scoring in the 12th minute, and a double came from the in-form Will Lankshire — who now has 15 goals in all competitions this season. Swansea, two points behind, bounced back from last week's heavy defeat to Queens Park Rangers by beating Blackburn 4:0: Steven Eustaquio, Joseph Opoku and Filip Lissa all scored before the break, and in the 60th minute Scottish striker Ross Stewart netted his first goal for the Welsh side.

Southampton keep the run going

Southampton, who began the season with a four-point deduction for spying on opponents' training sessions — last year's offence already cost the club promotion to the Premier League via the play-off final — beat Queens Park Rangers 4:1. A week earlier the Saints had ended West Ham's nine-match unbeaten run, and now they remain fifth, extending their unbeaten home league run to 17 matches. On the scoresheet were Cameron Bragg, Kyuryo Matsuki, Keven Schlotterbeck and Wellinton.

The rest of the round's results

Wolverhampton beat Cardiff 3:0 at Molineux thanks to headed goals from Fher Lopez, Adam Armstrong and Ladislav Krejci. Fabio Celestini's debut in charge of Burnley ended in a goalless draw with Portsmouth at Turf Moor. Millwall thrashed bottom side Derby 4:1 — Kyrell Lisbie scored twice early in the match. Bristol City snatched a 3:2 win over Bolton thanks to a Scott Twine goal in stoppage time, while Watford manager Alessio Dionisi, after his side threw away a two-goal lead and lost 3:2 to Norwich, said: 'I am furious. It is hard to explain the difference between the first and second half. Football is crazy, I know that, but to lose a match like this is impossible.'