Coventry extended their lead at the top of the Championship to three points as they beat 10-man Watford 3-1, recording a sixth straight victory. Frank Lampard's side took control inside seven minutes with goals from Brandon Thomas-Asante and Jamie Allen, before Tatsuhiro Sakamoto added a third on 42 minutes. Watford's James Abankwah was shown a red card for a foul on Haji Wright, and Imran Louza's second-half penalty proved a mere consolation.
Coventry goalkeeper Carl Rushworth was decisive early on, denying Rocco Vata when the winger was clean through a minute before the opener. Lampard praised his team's display, saying: "It was a challenging game today because Watford are a good team, and pound for pound that squad's a strong team in this league. There's no doubt they've got a really good coach there and I think they'll move up the league. It was a tricky game for us and I thought we did the job and we did it well."
Elsewhere, Middlesbrough were held to a 1-1 draw by Wrexham, with Hayden Hackney scoring his first goal since August to cancel out Josh Windass's opener. Sheffield Wednesday, who received a 12-point deduction after going into administration, slipped to a 2-1 home defeat by Oxford, with goals from Will Lankshear and Cameron Brannagan before Sean Fusire pulled one back.
Millwall won their fourth consecutive league game with a 1-0 victory over Leicester, Femi Azeez scoring the decisive goal. Bristol City consolidated their play-off place with a 1-0 win over Birmingham thanks to Sinclair Armstrong's first-half strike, while Derby edged QPR 1-0 through Carlton Morris's fifth goal of the season.
Ipswich returned to winning ways with a 1-0 victory over West Brom, Jack Clarke netting seven minutes from time after coming off the bench. Stoke claimed a much-needed 1-0 win at Portsmouth, where Hayden Matthews turned the ball into his own net from a cross.
