There were big wins for Charlton, Wigan and Barnsley at the bottom; Brentford beat Fulham in west London derby
Saturday 20 June 2020 19:26, UK
West Brom returned to the top of the Sky Bet Championship despite being held to a goalless draw by Birmingham.
The Baggies drew a blank as they made their comeback after the three-month enforced break due to the coronavirus pandemic.
They moved above Leeds on goal difference but will see it as a chance missed after dominating their local rivals at an empty Hawthorns.
Connor Wickham's injury-time equaliser earned Sheffield Wednesday a deserved point in a 1-1 draw with Nottingham Forest.
Forest had looked as if they were going to consolidate their position in the Sky Bet Championship play-offs after Joe Lolley's sweet 69th-minute strike, which Wednesday were convinced should have been ruled out for offside.
It was particularly galling for the Owls as they had wasted a host of chances to go in front, but on-loan Wickham rescued them in the third minute of time added on when he headed home a corner.
Forest boss Sabri Lamouchi was celebrating signing a new contract on Friday, but he was left furious by his side's inability to hold on for two extra points in a top-six race that looks like going down to the wire.
Corry Evans played a starring role as Blackburn came from behind to beat fellow promotion hopefuls Bristol City 3-1 and move to within a point of the Championship play-off places.
Evans suffered a fractured skull and shattered eye socket in a gruesome collision in January, but has recovered during lockdown and contributed a goal - his first in the league since November 2015 - and an assist as Rovers overhauled City in the table on their return to action.
The Northern Ireland international could hardly believe his luck as a cross intended for Sam Gallagher found its way into the net to cancel out Jamie Paterson's 34th-minute header, before Blackburn took control after the break with goals from Tosin Adarabioyo and Adam Armstrong.
Charlton claimed a huge win in the battle for Sky Bet Championship survival as Hull dropped into the relegation zone on an afternoon when Angus MacDonald made his return from bowel cancer.
Grant McCann's Tigers returned from the 15-week break directly above the drop zone, with Lee Bowyer's visitors just inside it and knowing they would have been consigned to relegation on a points-per-game had the season not restarted.
Both sides endured challenging lockdown periods and it was Hull's task that became tougher at an empty KCOM Stadium, where captain Jason Pearce's bundled effort sealed a 1-0 win for relegation rivals Charlton.
Elliot Simoes' early goal gave Barnsley a 1-0 victory at QPR and moved them four points from safety in the Sky Bet Championship.
The young striker scored after just seven minutes and his tidy finish was enough to give the Reds a first win at Rangers since 1950, lifting the Tykes off the bottom of the table.
Wigan carried on where they left off before the coronavirus-enforced hiatus with a 2-0 victory at Huddersfield to move three points clear of the Sky Bet Championship relegation zone.
Jamal Lowe celebrated by taking a knee in tribute to the Black Lives Matter movement when he opened the scoring with a close-range finish midway through the first half while former Town winger Anthony Pilkington's deflected effort shortly after the interval extended Wigan's unbeaten streak to seven matches.
Nathan Jones picked up a point on his return as Luton manager as Callum McManaman earned the Hatters a 1-1 draw with Preston.
It looked like the hosts would suffer a demoralising defeat in their bid to stay up, falling behind early in the second half to Scott Sinclair's strike but, with three minutes to go, McManaman powered home from 22 yards and earn his side a share of the spoils.
The fine goal gave Jones - asked to return to Luton after the departure of Graeme Jones during the season's recess - something to smile about as he bids to stave off relegation.
Nick Powell pounced two minutes into stoppage time as relegation-threatened Stoke salvaged a 1-1 draw at Reading on their return to Sky Bet Championship action.
After a poor opening, Stoke went behind in the seventh minute when Reading striker Lucas Joao guided home smoothly from 10 yards.
Tom Ince wasted Stoke's best chance of a first-half equaliser and Reading almost increased their lead when John Swift struck the crossbar early in the second period. Tyrese Campbell nearly levelled for the visitors with 20 minutes left but his deflected effort glanced off a post.
However, Powell struck in the second minute of stoppage time to give Stoke a point.
Brentford breathed new life into their bid for automatic promotion after late goals from Said Benrahma and Emiliano Marcondes secured a 2-0 victory at west London rivals Fulham.
In the first Championship game for more than three months since the league was suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic, Fulham's Bobby Decordova-Reid struck the crossbar in the 15th minute before the hosts saw Aleksander Mitrovic's goal correctly disallowed for offside early in the second half.
But Brentford, who were without Bryan Mbeumodue due to a positive coronavirus test, struck late as substitute Marcondes set up Benrahma's 88th-minute opener before converting in stoppage time (90+1) to seal what could prove to be a crucial three points.
Victory sees Thomas Frank's side move one point behind Fulham in third and eight behind second-placed West Brom. Defeat is a blow to Fulham's own automatic promotion hopes as they are now seven points adrift of West Brom and Leeds, who travel to Cardiff City on Sunday, also on Sky Sports (kick-off 12pm).
Teenager Louie Sibley's superb hat-trick earned Derby a 3-2 Sky Bet Championship win over Millwall at The Den.
Eighteen-year-old Sibley, making only the second league start of his career, scored a magnificent solo goal to cancel out Matt Smith's first-half opener.
The Rams academy product slotted home a second with 20 minutes to play and wrapped up the points in closing stages.
Sibley is the youngest player to score a league hat-trick in the top four tiers since Ryan Sessegnon did so in November 2017.
Rhian Brewster sent out a powerful anti-racism message as he helped to fire Swansea to a comfortable Sky Bet Championship victory at Middlesbrough.
The 20-year-old Liverpool loanee struck twice inside three first-half minutes, unveiling a T-shirt bearing the message "Our colour is not a crime" while celebrating the first, as the Swans ran out 3-0 winners at the Riverside Stadium on their return to action.
Andre Ayew wrapped up a win which keeps the Welsh side firmly in the race for the play-offs with a 34th-minute penalty on a day when struggling Boro, who have won only twice in the league since the turn of the year, simply gave themselves too much to do with a dreadful start.
