Championship: Middlesbrough Misses Chance to Lead, Stoke Overwhelms Bristol City

Middlesbrough missed the chance to join Coventry City at the top of the Championship after a 3-0 defeat to Watford at Vicarage Road.

After seeing Coventry suffer their first league defeat of the season against Wrexham on Friday, Rob Edwards had an unhappy return to his former club.

Watford captain Imran Louza opened the scoring in the 15th minute before Luca Kjerrumgaard doubled the hosts' lead shortly after the half-hour mark.

The victory was sealed four minutes into the second half when Kjerrumgaard completed his brace, lifting Javi Gracia's team to tenth place in the standings.

The Hornets have now won four consecutive home league games, securing their first clean sheet of the season at the thirteenth attempt.

Middlesbrough's slip allowed the chasers to close in, and Stoke City did so emphatically by thrashing playoff contenders Bristol City 5-1.

Divin Mubama starred for Mark Robins' side, scoring a hat-trick and assisting Million Manhoef as the Potters raced to a three-goal lead within just 25 minutes.

Stoke extended their advantage two minutes into the second half with Junior Tchamadeu, before Mubama completed his hat-trick with a powerful strike under the crossbar.

Mark Sykes' goal in the 82nd minute proved only a consolation for the Robins, who have now dropped to fifth place. Meanwhile, Stoke is just one point away from the automatic promotion spots.

Birmingham City also boosted their bid for a top-six spot, comfortably defeating Portsmouth 4-0 at St. Andrew's.

The Blues hadn't won in front of their home fans since September 20, but started brightly when Paik Seung-Ho opened the scoring after nine minutes.

Jay Stansfield also saw a penalty saved in the first 10 minutes, but Birmingham doubled their lead just before the hour with a brilliant header from Tomoki Iwata.

Birmingham secured the result when Christoph Klarer met Alex Cochrane's inviting free-kick, before Keshi Anderson added further gloss to the scoreline late on.

Two braces from Marcelino Nunez and George Hirst propelled Ipswich Town to ninth place in the Championship after an easy 4-0 win over Queens Park Rangers.

George Hirst's opener in the second minute was quickly canceled out by Rumarn Burrell, but two goals in ten minutes of the second half saw Kieran McKenna's side take control.

Nunez sent a stunning free-kick past Christian Walton before Hirst grabbed his second later. The Chilean midfielder, however, wasn't done there.

He repeated the feat with another set-piece goal from an almost identical position, although his shot took a deflection on its way to the QPR net.

At the other end of the table, a hat-trick from Carlton Morris moved Derby County eight points clear of the relegation zone with a 3-1 win at Sheffield United.

Derby had lost each of their last four league trips to Bramall Lane, but Morris set them on the right path in the 24th minute with a shot past Michael Cooper.

Morris doubled his and Derby's lead a minute after the break with a lobbed effort, with Alex Matos then handling in the area shortly after the hour.

And Morris made no mistake from the spot, and while Callum O'Hare's late goal gave the Blades hope, Derby held on for their third consecutive league win.

Data Analysis: Hornets Sting Boro as Morris Continues Fine Form

The coaching carousel at Watford threatened to derail the Hornets' season after Paulo Pezzolano's sacking last month, but Gracia's return has brought some stability to Vicarage Road as his team now looks upward.

Watford won all three league matches against Boro for the first time in their EFL history, doing so comfortably despite an expected goals (xG) total of 0.9 from their nine shots, compared to 0.75 from the opponents' 14 attempts.

Another team now looking to climb into the top half is John Eustace's Derby, once again led by Morris. Indeed, in this Championship season, only Coventry's Brandon Thomas-Asante (nine) has scored more goals than the former Luton Town captain (eight).

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