Football
PA Sport 6y

Wolverhampton Wanderers secure Championship title as Sunderland relegated

Wolverhampton Wanderers secured the Championship title with a 4-0 victory over relegation-threatened Bolton Wanderers at the Macron Stadium on a day when Sunderland were relegated.

Needing one point from their final three matches to be crowned champions, Wolves got the job done courtesy of goals from Barry Douglas, Benik Afobe and Diogo Jota in addition to a Conor Coady penalty.

Wolves, already promoted, are on 98 points with games against Sheffield Wednesday and Sunderland still to come.

Bolton, without a win in six matches, are only two points above the drop zone.

Sunderland's second consecutive relegation was confirmed following a 2-1 defeat to fellow strugglers Burton Albion at the Stadium of Light.

Darren Bent returned to haunt his former team, cancelling out Paddy McNair's opener, before Liam Boyce headed in a late winner to leave Burton two points from safety.

A matter of hours after manager Chris Coleman apologised to fans and described the "brutal experience" of going down, a formal club statement vowed Sunderland would "rise again."

Neither owner Ellis Short, whose future remains shrouded in doubt, or chief executive Martin Short, were mentioned by name, but the message directly referenced a lack of clarity about the future running of the organisation.

Cardiff moved back into second spot with a 2-1 win over Nottingham Forest in the late game.

Sean Morrison's header broke the deadlock but Forest levelled early in the second half through Liam Bridcutt's coolly-taken strike.

Kenneth Zohore had already hit a post when Aron Gunnarsson acrobatically turned the ball home from close range to move the Bluebirds one point above Fulham with a game still in hand.

Lewis Grabban netted twice as Aston Villa kept their slim automatic promotion hopes alive with a 4-0 victory at 10-man Ipswich Town.

Conor Hourihane and Henri Lansbury were also on target at Portman Road, where Ipswich midfielder Grant Ward was shown a red card for a rash tackle in the 42nd minute.

Goals in either half from Mo Besic and Britt Assombalonga ensured Middlesbrough beat play-off rivals Derby County 2-1 to remain in the top six.

David Nugent converted a last-minute penalty for Derby, who are one point off sixth-placed Millwall.

Brentford are level with Derby following a 2-1 win over Queens Park Rangers at Griffin Park.

Sergi Canos fired an early opener before QPR equalised on the stroke of half-time through Idrissa Sylla, but Florian Jozefzoon netted the winner in the 69th minute for Dean Smith's side.

Bristol City drew 5-5 with Hull City in a thriller despite once leading 4-2. After Harry Wilson scored the opener for Hull, Marlon Park responded for the hosts and a Famara Diedhiou double put them in control.

Bristol City goalkeeper Frank Fielding scored an own goal and, after Bobby Reid made it 4-2, Wilson, Abel Hernandez and Fraizer Campbell looked to have pulled off a stunning comeback, yet Joe Bryan secured a draw at the death to keep Lee Johnson's side in the hunt.

Birmingham City came from behind to boost their survival hopes with a 2-1 victory over Sheffield United.

After United took the lead at St Andrew's through Mark Duffy in the seventh minute, Birmingham responded through goals from Marc Roberts and Jacques Maghoma.

Birmingham moved five points above the drop zone after Barnsley lost to Leeds United and former manager Paul Heckingbottom 2-1 at Elland Road.

Left-back Tom Pearce opened the scoring with his first goal for Leeds and although a Paudie O'Connor own goal drew Barnsley level, they remain two points behind Bolton following Gjanni Alioski's winner.

Fernando Forestieri scored either side of a George Boyd strike to give Sheffield Wednesday a 3-0 win over Reading, who had Tyler Blackett sent off, and Preston North End were held to a 0-0 stalemate by Norwich City at Deepdale.

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