Championship roundup: Southampton beat West Ham; QPR put five past Swansea

Burnley sack manager Hayen after 4-1 loss at Lincoln

Prefer the Guardian on GoogleSouthampton announced themselves in the promotion race with a statement 3-2 win at the pre-season title favourites, West Ham. Kuryu Matsuki, James Bree and Lewis Dobbin were all on target in a chaotic first half, while Kyle Walker-Peters and Tomas Soucek replied for the Hammers.

Nuno Espírito Santo’s side would have gone top with a win but instead saw their nine-match unbeaten run halted. There were thousands of empty seats by the end at the London Stadium, with those who stayed booing the Hammers off. Southampton, deducted four points at the start of the season, are now just two points behind West Ham.

“We started not the way we wanted,” said Nuno. “We were looking at the situations with hesitation, bouncing balls, too many chances for Southampton to have a second phase, third phase and achieve a goal. But the reaction was good in the second half. The boys fought until the end.”

Richard Kone made an emphatic return to form by scoring a hat-trick inside 15 minutes as QPR thrashed high-flying Swansea 5-0 at Loftus Road. Jimmy Dunne struck twice for Rangers, who were four up at half-time, as the Swans – who were top of the Championship until Friday night – suffered their second defeat in a row. The Welsh side remain second in the table, while QPR’s resounding victory moved them back into the playoff positions in eighth.

Nicky Hayen’s spell as Burnley manager was brought to an end after his side slumped to a 4-1 defeat at Lincoln. Burnley went in front through Andréas Hountondji but Ben House equalised on the stroke of half-time. Hayen’s side then fell apart in the second half, with Mikkel Ladefoged scoring twice, either side of a goal from Dom Jefferies. With their team in the bottom three, Burnley fans targeted Hayen and the board with banners and chants.

Before his dismissal was announced by the club, Hayen said: “It’s frustrating for everyone, especially the fans. I want to apologise to them, but I know it doesn’t matter because it’s another hard defeat for them and I can understand their criticism. I will keep on working hard as long as I have the chance.”

Adam Armstrong ended his goal drought with a milestone strike to give dominant Wolves a 1-0 win against Watford at Molineux. The 29-year-old striker, returning after a back injury, scored only his second league goal of the season, while it was his first Championship home goal for Wolves, all on his 450th league appearance.

Wolves, though, failed to turn their overwhelming superiority into goals, and the unease around Molineux was evident when the 78th-minute double substitution of Tommy Doyle and Tawanda Chirewa for Jordan James and Armstrong was met with chants of “you don’t know what you’re doing” aimed at the head coach, César Peixoto.

The substitute Aune Heggebo struck late for West Brom to deny Preston a first win under Graham Alexander in a 1-1 draw at a wind-swept Deepdale. The Norwegian came off the bench on the hour and rifled home an 82nd-minute leveller just four minutes after Andrew Hughes hooked North End into the lead from a corner.

Cardiff halted Birmingham’s winning run as Yousef Salech secured a 1-0 victory to continue the Bluebirds’ climb up the table. Salech was named among the home substitutes initially, but the defender Krystian Bielik suffered an injury in the warm-up and had to drop out on an afternoon of relentless rain in the Welsh capital. Cardiff have now recorded three straight home wins as they continue to show real signs of adapting to life in the second tier following promotion from League One.

Andri Gudjohnsen’s second double in a week earned Blackburn a clinical 2-0 win over Wrexham. The Icelandic striker’s return from injury has coincided with an upturn in Rovers’ results as goals in each half delivered a third win in five games that moves Tony Mowbray’s side to within two points of the playoff spots.

Chris Wilder was critical of his Sheffield United side’s “annoying” first-half performance after they had to settle for a point from a 1-1 draw with struggling Derby. Bobby Clark gave the Rams a first-half lead with Patrick Bamford equalising in the closing stages, while Derby had Dion Sanderson sent off in the 66th minute after he received a second booking. Wilder said: “We gave them the game that they wanted. Everybody’s brother was playing first half apart from Kalvin [Phillips] and Coops [Michael Cooper].”

John Mousinho admitted Portsmouth did not deserve to win after coming from behind to beat Millwall 2-1 in a game of freak goals at a blustery Fratton Park. Jenson Metcalfe put Millwall ahead on six minutes after a calamitous pass forward from the Pompey goalkeeper, Nicolas Schmid, and, 10 minutes later, Lyndon Dykes turned the ball into his own net for 1-1. Then, eight minutes from time, an attempted clearance from Millwall’s captain, Jake Cooper, ricocheted off the substitute Thomas Waddingham and into the net for the winner.

“This is the first time this season we’ve got away with one,” said Mousinho. “We were lucky to nick the win off a poor start to the second half and the defending in the first half. But we stuck in it and did everything else really well.”

Philippe Clement saluted the never-say-die attitude of his Norwich players after a 3-1 comeback win at Charlton. The Canaries, on a run of six straight defeats in league and cup heading to the Valley, fell behind to a Charlie Kelman goal. But Paris Maghoma equalised and Mathias Kvistgaarden fired them ahead, before Ivan Mesik’s own goal completed the turnaround.

Stoke and Bristol City played out a 0-0 draw in wet and windy conditions, while on Friday, Will Lankshear scored twice as a Middlesbrough battered Bolton 5-1. Aidan Morris, in-form Lankshear and a Lewis Brunt own goal before half-time set the Teessiders on the way to a 10th successive win over their hosts in a run stretching back to 2014.