Championship wrap: ´Boro stun Cardiff, Leeds show grit

Middlesbrough upset second-placed Cardiff in the Football League Championship on Saturday, while Leeds came from two goals down to win.

A penalty from Julio Arca five minutes before half-time at the Riverside Stadium sealed the unlikely win for struggling ‘Boro.

Victory lifts them off the foot of the table and out of the relegation zone.

Cardiff meanwhile missed an opportunity to make ground on the leaders Queens Park Rangers, who suffered their own surprise defeat 3-1 at home to Watford on Friday.

Cardiff remain four points behind QPR, and are now level with bitter rivals Swansea City.

Dave Jones’ side retains their position in the automatic promotion berths ahead of third-place Swansea courtesy of goal difference.

Leeds United closed the gap on the Welsh clubs to just two points thanks to a come-from-behind 3-2 win away to Burnley.

Goals from Brian Easton and Jay Rodriguez had Burnley 2-0 up by half-time at Turf Moor, but Max Gradel pulled one back for Leeds seven minutes into the second half, before Luciano Becchio equalised on 66 minutes.

Jonny Howson then completed the comeback, securing all three points with a winner five minutes from time.

Coventry City kept their place in the top six despite drawing 0-0 away to Reading, with the two sides immediately below them both losing.

Sixth-placed Norwich City went down 2-0 away to Portsmouth, while the team in seventh, Derby County, lost by the same score-line away to Bristol City.

Doncaster Rovers took an early lead in their match away to Leicester City, but ended up on the end of a 5-1 thumping at the Walkers Stadium.

Questions will continue to be asked about Roy Keane’s future after Ipswich Town lost their sixth game in a row, the latest reverse a 1-0 defeat away to bottom side Preston North End.

A Hugo Colace strike helped Barnsley to prevail 1-0 in their south Yorkshire derby against Sheffield Untied at Oakwell.