Rickie Lambert bagged a hat-trick as Southampton surged back to the top of the Championship with a 3-0 win at Watford, while promotion rivals West Ham were held to a 0-0 draw by Crystal Palace on Saturday.
Saints striker Lambert struck twice in the first half before sealing his treble with a second-half penalty, taking his tally to 19 league goals, as Nigel Adkins’ side extended their unbeaten run to six games.
Watford handed a debut to on-loan Manchester United goalkeeper Tomasz Kuszczak, but he was guilty of an error for the opening goal as his poor positioning allowed Lambert to nod in after 13 minutes.
Kuszczak could do nothing about the second goal eight minutes later when Lambert fired home from the edge of the penalty area.
Lambert completed his treble in the 72nd minute when he converted a penalty after Carl Dickinson fouled Japan striker Tadanari Lee.
Southampton’s clinical display moved them one point clear of West Ham, who dropped to second after a frustrating goalless draw against Palace in the day’s early game at Upton Park.
Sam Allardyce’s side struggled in the first half and almost fell behind after 30 seconds when Darren Ambrose curled just wide.
The Hammers, who still have a game in hand on Southampton, improved after the break and Sam Baldock almost made himself an instant hero within seconds of coming on as a substitute after Mark Noble put him through, but his shot was too close to Julian Speroni.
Reading are hot on West Ham’s heels in third place after an impressive 2-0 win at play-off hopefuls Middlesbrough.
Republic of Ireland striker Noel Hunt converted from close range in the 17th minute after a well-worked corner before Ian Harte’s late free-kick gave the Royals their fifth successive league victory.
Blackpool left it late to seal a 3-1 win at Bristol City that moved Ian Holloway’s team into fourth place.
Jon Stead gave Bristol City a 29th minute lead but Thomas Ince equalised 10 minutes into the second half.
Ince and Kevin Phillips then struck in the 84th and 87th minutes to extend struggling City’s winless run to six league matches.
Birmingham’s 15-match unbeaten run came to an end at St Andrew’s as Dexter Blackstock’s double gave Nottingham Forest a shock 2-1 win.
Chris Hughton’s side’s recent form had pushed them into the race for automatic promotion, but they fell seven points behind West Ham after a lacklustre display.
Blackstock put Forest ahead in the 29th minute and bagged the winner in the 63rd minute after Chris Burke had equalised as the visitors climbed away from the relegation zone.
Elsewhere, Neil Warnock’s first game as Leeds manager ended in a disappointing 0-0 draw at struggling Portsmouth.
Doncaster remain bottom of the table following a 1-1 draw with Peterborough, while Coventry boosted their survival bid by beating Barnsley 1-0.
Millwall beat Burnley 3-1 at Turf Moor to keep their survival hopes alive and Brighton defeated Ipswich 3-0.
