The only goal of the game came in the 61st minute from Josh Cullen, who tucked home after the Stoke defence failed to deal with a Manuel Benson shot. Watford missed the chance to climb to third and were thumped 4-0 by Swansea in south Wales. Liam Cullen set up Joel Piroe for the opener in the 39th minute and scored the second himself in the 74th minute.
Swansea then picked off Watford twice more, Piroe grabbing his second from outside the box in the 78th minute before Joel Latibeaudiere added a fourth. Managerless Norwich were held to a 1-1 draw by Reading. After back-to-back defeats spelled the end for Dean Smith earlier this week, Adam Idah gave the Canaries hope with his first goal of the season in the 53rd minute.
But Andy Carroll equalised from the penalty spot seven minutes from time after Kieran Dowell felled Nesta Guinness-Walker. Hull claimed an important three points at the wrong end of the table with a 1-0 victory at Birmingham. Shortly after Ryan Longman had had an effort disallowed for offside, Oscar Estupinan tucked away the winner in the 77th minute.
On Thursday evening, the Blades won 2-1 at Blackpool to strengthen their grip on second place while Middlesbrough will finish 2022 in the top six after beating Blackburn Rovers 2-1. Huddersfield Town increased their hopes of survival heading into 2023 with a 2-0 win over Yorkshire rivals Rotherham United.
Ahead of the new year, data experts at FiveThirtyEight have predicted how the final Championship table will look come May. Take a look…
