EFL goals and round-up: Burnley, Sheffield United and Middlesbrough win | Football News

A Nathan Tella hat-trick helped leaders Burnley make it 10 successive wins in the Sky Bet Championship with a 3-0 win over Preston.

The on-loan Southampton forward opened his account 15 minutes into the game before adding two more within three minutes of each other in the second half as the Clarets push to return to the Premier League.

Sheffield United stay second, returning to winning ways with a 3-0 home victory against Swansea.

First-half goals from Sander Berge and Jack Robinson put the Blades in control before Oli McBurnie put the game to bed with an 89th minute strike.

Middlesbrough also bagged three in their push for promotion under Michael Carrick, winning 3-1 at Cardiff.

Marcus Forss put Boro in front in the 17th minute but Sory Kaba quickly equalised for the hosts on his home debut.

Cameron Archer then fired Boro back into the lead and Riley McGree struck late to take three points back to Teesside.

Millwall climbed into the play-off spots after securing a 2-1 win against QPR.

Duncan Watmore scored his first goal for the Lions in his first start, before Oliver Burke doubled the lead and the Lions held firm despite Chris Martin’s consolation.

Promotion hopefuls Luton and Watford were forced to settle for a point each after drawing 1-1 with Coventry and Blackburn, respectively.

Tom Lockyer put the Hatters ahead just one minute into the game away to the Sky Blues, before Matt Godden’s spot-kick levelled matters.

Coventry’s Josh Wilson-Esbrand was sent off after picking up his second yellow card five minutes before the final whistle, although Luton were unable to find a winner.

Bradley Dack put Blackburn ahead at Vicarage Road but Wesley Hoedt rescued a point for the Hornets with his 74th-minute strike.

Patrick Roberts also struck late as Sunderland beat Reading 1-0, while Norwich slip to 10th after Mark Sykes’ goal sealed three points for Bristol City.

Jack Whatmough scored the only goal of the game in the 82nd minute as Wigan beat fellow strugglers Huddersfield 1-0.

Elsewhere, Blackpool and Rotherham finished goalless, as did Hull’s match at Stoke.

Sky Bet League One

Plymouth returned to the top of the League One table thanks to a 3-1 victory over Portsmouth.

Argyle, who had won only one of their previous four matches, took the lead through Sam Cosgrove in the 24th minute, with Finn Azaz grabbing the second 20 minutes from time.

Portsmouth threatened a comeback when Reeco Hackett-Fairchild netted in the 79th minute but Ryan Hardie made sure in stoppage time.

Plymouth overtook Sheffield Wednesday, whose six-match winning run in the league came to an end with a 2-2 draw against third-placed Ipswich.

Wednesday opened the scoring through Michael Smith in the 27th minute and George Byers doubled the lead seven minutes later.

But Nathan Broadhead halved the deficit two minutes before half-time and Leif Davis levelled matters in the 51st minute.

Fourth-placed Bolton were the biggest winners of the day, Dion Charles netting a hat-trick in a 5-0 thumping of play-off chasing Peterborough.

Ricardo Santos scored the first and last goals, with Charles grabbing a nine-minute treble either side of half-time, two of them from the penalty spot.

Derby were beaten in the league for the first time since October, falling to a 3-2 loss at Wycombe, who climb to seventh.

Sam Vokes gave the hosts the lead in the 11th minute and it stayed that way until midway through the second half when James Collins equalised.

A Lewis Wing double looked to have secured the points for Wanderers but a fine strike from Lewis Dobbin in the 89th minute ensured a nervy finish.

Shrewsbury are level on points with Wycombe after defeating Port Vale by the same scoreline.

They fell behind to an early goal from Dennis Politic but led 3-1 at the break through efforts from Chey Dunkley, Luke Leahy and Killian Phillips.

Jamie Proctor pulled one back seven minutes after half-time but Shrewsbury held on.

Barnsley occupy the final play-off place after defeating Cambridge 2-0 despite losing Max Watters to a red card before half-time.

Watters had given the Tykes the lead in the eighth minute but was sent off for an elbow in the 37th minute.

It did not stop Barnsley extending their lead, though, with Jordan Williams grabbing the second in the 64th minute.

Bottom side Forest Green were denied a priceless win against fellow strugglers Morecambe.

Rovers took the lead in the 81st minute through Jahmari Clarke but are still searching for a first victory under Duncan Ferguson after Cole Stockton made it 1-1 a minute from time.

There were valuable wins for Burton and Fleetwood, who defeated Exeter and Charlton, respectively.

Sam Winnall scored a late winner for Burton in a 1-0 victory while Fleetwood claimed a 2-1 success.

Shaun Rooney and Harrison Holgate scored either side of Jesurun Rak-Sakyi’s equaliser in first-half injury time and Charlton were reduced to 10 men late on when Ryan Inniss saw red.

A plastic water bottle struck referee Carl Boyeson in the face as he walked towards the tunnel at the end of the match.

Lincoln defeated 10-man Bristol Rovers 1-0, with Regan Poole scoring before Ryan Loft was sent off for a foul late in the first half.

Lewis Bate cancelled out Sullay Kaikai’s opener to earn Oxford a 1-1 draw at MK Dons while Cheltenham and Accrington drew 0-0.

Sky Bet League Two

Stevenage suffered a home defeat to Bradford as they missed a chance to cut the gap at the top of League Two after Leyton Orient were held to a draw by Walsall.

Jamie Walker’s 86th-minute goal gave Bradford a 3-2 win, their first away victory since November, as they moved to the cusp of the play-off places.

Carl Piergianni headed Stevenage in front after 26 minutes, but Bradford turned the game around early in the second half as Matt Derbyshire’s volley went in off the underside of the crossbar before Andy Cook scored from the penalty spot after a shirt pull from Dan Sweeney.

Sweeney redeemed himself with a powerful header in the 73rd minute but Walker had the last word with a rocket.

That allowed Leyton Orient to extend their lead to eight points as defender Ed Turns curled in an 83rd-minute equaliser at Walsall to cancel out Joe Low’s first-half opener.

Third-placed Carlisle edged to within four points of Stevenage after a goalless draw at AFC Wimbledon in which both goalkeepers stood out.

Northampton missed the chance to move into the automatic promotion places as they too were held to a draw, 1-1 away to bottom of the table Rochdale, to stay one point behind Carlisle.

The Cobblers needed an 89th-minute strike from Ben Fox to avoid defeat after Ian Henderson rounded Tom King, checked, and lifted the ball over the goalkeeper to break the deadlock after 52 minutes.

Northampton have a three-point cushion over fifth-placed Salford, who suffered a 1-0 defeat away to Tranmere as Kieron Morris slid in to score the only goal midway through the first half.

Stockport helped their promotion hopes with a 3-1 win at Harrogate.

Myles Hippolyte and Isaac Olafe gave the visitors a 2-0 first-half lead before on-loan Southampton winger Kazeem Olaigbe pulled a goal back for the hosts.

The last word belonged to Will Collar who made sure of the points in the 73rd minute.

That leaves Stockport in seventh, one point behind Mansfield who ended the mini-revival of Gillingham with a 2-0 home win.

Ollie Clarke opened the scoring after 21 minutes, hitting a powerful low shot from the edge of the box, before Lucas Akins scored from the spot after being held by Max Ehmer in the box.

Defeat leaves Gillingham second bottom, two points behind 22nd-placed Hartlepool who claimed a point from a dramatic 2-2 draw at home to Sutton.

Pools were in trouble after David Ajiboye and Lee Angol had Sutton cruising at 2-0 in a little over half an hour.

But after Craig Eastmond collected his second yellow card for a needless lunge on Dan Kemp eight minutes before half-time, the hosts took full advantage before the break.

Kemp curled in a fine 43rd-minute free-kick before Dan Dodds struck a thunderbolt in the third minute of time added on to the first half.

Crawley remain level on points with Hartlepool after a 2-2 draw of their own at home to fellow strugglers Crewe.

But they needed a stoppage-time goal from Ben Gladwin to do it after two goals from Daniel Agyei, one of them a penalty, cancelled out a Luke Offord own goal.

Luke Molyneux scored twice in the space of three minutes midway through the first half to fire Doncaster to a 2-0 win away to Swindon.

Colchester made it five away wins in a row as Tom Hopper’s first-half header was enough for a 1-0 win over Grimsby, while Newport captain Micky Demetriou scored in the fifth minute of time added to for a 1-0 win at Barrow, who had home debutant Rory Feely sent off in the 81st minute.