The 2019/2020 Championship campaign resumed after the coronavirus shutdown over the weekend. Aside from Brentford, the rest of the top-six were unable to register victories on Matchday 38, but there were plenty of positive results for the clubs below them.
The likes of Cardiff City, Blackburn Rovers, Swansea City and Derby County were able to close the gap on the play-off positions with key wins. At the bottom half of the table, Wigan Athletic and Charlton Athletic bagged crucial three points in their survival bid. Barnsley also reduced their deficit to safety to four points with a return to winning ways.
Winners of Matchday 38:
Charlton Athletic: The south London outfit grabbed much of the headlines before the season restart following the news that top-scorer Lyle Taylor would not play any part in their relegation fight due to the fear of getting injured, which could deny him a life-changing move.
Against Hull City, the Addicks faced a relegation six-pointer on Saturday afternoon and they managed to come up with the win after a 19th-minute goal from captain James Pearce.
Both teams came into the game on the back of winless league streaks and it was far from an exciting affair with the Addicks scoring with their only shot on target.
With the 1-0 victory, Lee Bowyer’s side jumped from 22nd to 19th in the standings. Hull, who were just outside of the relegation places, dropped into the bottom three following a fifth successive league defeat.
Brentford: Thomas Frank’s team were up against their west London rivals Fulham on the road on Saturday. The derby appeared on course to end in a goalless stalemate before Said Benrahma changed the complexion of the game.
The Algerian has been a consistent performer for the Bees this term and he proved his importance once again with the opening goal in the 88th minute before providing a splendid cross-field ball for Emiliano Marcondes, who doubled the advantage in injury-time.
The Bees were the only team from the top-six to come up with maximum points on the matchday. They are now within eight points of the top-two positions and have an outside chance of securing automatic promotion with eight games to play.
Elsewhere, the capital outfit are six points ahead of seventh-placed Cardiff City. The club are aiming to make a return to the top tier of English football for the first time in more than seven decades.
Stats from Transfermarkt.com
