Championship roundup: Swansea’s win at Millwall marred by alleged racist abuse of Eom Ji-sung

Middlesbrough edge Stoke in thriller; more Watford gloom

Prefer the Guardian on GoogleSwansea’s last-gasp 1-0 win at Millwall was held up for almost seven minutes after an allegation of racist abuse from the crowd towards Eom Ji-sung was reported by Swansea to officials.

The referee, Edward Duckworth, halted the match in the 65th minute and walked to the dugouts to speak with Alex Neil, the Millwall’s manager, Swansea’s manager, Vítor Matos, and the fourth official, Ruebyn Ricardo. A security guard was also on the scene, with Duckworth seeming to point to an area in the stands behind the Swansea dugout.

When play resumed it was announced in the stadium that there had been a report of racist chanting and that police were working to identify any offenders using CCTV.

Matos confirmed the player in question was the South Korean Eom, who was warming up. Neil said: “It’s been reported and it’s not acceptable.”

“As a club we condemn racism and discrimination in all forms, and there is no place for such behaviour in football or in society,” Swansea said. “The club wants to place on record its thanks for the swift and decisive manner in which the match officials, Millwall Football Club and the police dealt with the incident. We will now follow all protocols and processes and provide whatever assistance we can to all parties as the incident is investigated. We stand with Ji-sung, and he has our unstinting love and support.”

Millwall said: “Any individual found to have engaged in such behaviour will face the strongest possible action. [We are] working alongside the relevant authorities to establish the facts and unable to comment further as [the] alleged incident is the subject of an ongoing police investigation, which the club fully supports.”

The substitute Ronald scored a last-minute winner to keep Swansea top of the Championship.

The Brazilian defender Neto Borges scored in injury-time after earlier scoring an own goal as Middlesbrough secured a 3-2 victory over Stoke. It was his first league goal for 18 months and Boro stay second in the table after stretching their unbeaten run to five games.

Callum Brittain had fired the visitors ahead three minutes into the second half before Junior Tchamadeu’s shot deflected in off Borges for an unfortunate own goal soon afterwards.

The England Under-21 striker Will Lankshear restored the visitors’ lead with his eighth league goal in 10 games after the Stoke keeper, Viktor Johansson, spilled Amario Cozier-Duberry’s left-foot strike from the edge of the area. It took the striker to the top of the Championship scoring charts.

Substitute Robert Bozenik looked to have earned the home side a point, slotting home after Luke Ayling’s poor clearance with five minutes left, but Borges scored from close range in the first of four minutes of stoppage time.

Watford’s woeful season took another turn for the worse as they conceded four first-half goals in a 5-1 defeat at Cardiff to drop into the relegation zone.

Jack Moylan scored twice in the first half, winning and converting an 11th-minute penalty and then picking his spot to beat Federico Ravaglia in a one-on one in the 35th.

Mattie Pollock had brought down Moylan for the penalty and then headed into his own net from a corner in the 41st minute before Ollie Tanner added the fourth in the fifth minute of first-half added time.

Birmingham underlined their growing promotion credentials with a commanding 4-0 victory over 10-man Preston at St Andrew’s. Two goals from August Priske and one each for Liam Millar and Demarai Gray gave them a third win in four games. Preston, who played most of the second half with 10 men, remain rooted to the bottom of the table.

Ivan Mesik scored a last-gasp leveller for Charlton to clinch a 2-2 draw at Burnley, extending the hosts’ 360-day wait for a home league win. Largie Ramazani’s 57th-minute goal put Burnley into a 2-1 lead at Turf Moor, but Mesik equalised with virtually the last kick of an absorbing contest.

West Brom staged a late revival to beat Wrexham 2-1 at Stōk Cae Ras. Kieffer Moore’s stunning second-half strike gave Wrexham hope they could claim back-to-back home wins for the first time since February. But West Brom scored twice in five minutes through Isaac Price and Aune Heggebo to stop the rot after derby defeats to Wolves and Birmingham.

Wolves suffered their first home league defeat of the season as Bolton won 3-1 at Molineux. Atsuki Ito gave the visitors a deserved 28th-minute lead and although Jean-Ricner Bellegarde equalised five minutes after the break, substitute Sam Dalby and Josh Sheehan struck in the last 20 minutes to seal victory.

A magnificent goalkeeping display from Balazs Toth inspired Blackburn to a 1-0 victory over Bristol City at Ashton Gate. Toth made a string of outstanding saves, particularly in the first half. Oladapo Afolayan rifled home the only goal in the 38th minute.