English Championship: Dominic Solanke bags brace as the race for promotion gets tougher

      My   By Omolagba Oluwayemi The race for promotion to the English Premier League from the Championship is getting more interesting and this evening fixtures lived up to expectation. BSNsports.com.ng brings the reports from match day 18. A Teemu Pukki's brace (22, 55) helped Norwich City maintained their lead on the log. The victory at ensured Norwich 3 points lead is intact. It finished at Ewood Park Blackburn 1-2 Norwich City with Harvey Elliott (59) scoring Blackburn's only goal. Dominic Solanke got a brace and an assist as AFC Bournemouth whitewashed Huddersfield Town 5-0 to put pressure on first place Norwich City. Dominic Solanke (8, 13), David Brooks (21), J. Stanislas (67) and Sam Surridge (70) were the scorers for AFC Bournemouth. Nnamdi Oforborh was an unused sub for AFC Bournemouth. An 85th minute penalty from Troy Deeney helped Watford get a win on the road against resilient Birmingham City. With the victory, Watford remained in 4th place. Williams Troost-Ekong was solid at the back for Watford althrough the game. Jamal Lowe's brace against Cardiff City ensured Swansea City remained in 3rd place with 33 points, 4 points behind leaders Norwich City after match day 18. Stoke City promotion bid suffers a setback after playing a goalless draw against struggling Derby County. John Obi Mikel was not part of the game and he is expected back in the next few days. James Collins hattrick (20, 29, 66) against Preston North End helped Luton Town bounced back from two winless run to climb to 11th place on the log. Duncan Watmore (13, 20) and M. Tavernier (15) scored in the first half has Middlesbrough won 3-0 against Millwall at the Riverside Stadium. Nigeria Chuba Apom saw 72 minutes of action why Samuel Folarin was an unused sub for Middlesbrough. At the City Ground, Nottingham, Brentford defeated Nottingham Forest 3-1. H. Dalsgaard (15), Joshua Dasilva (83) and Ivan Toney (88) were the scorers for Brentford why Joe Worrall (90) scored Nottingham's only goal. Bright Osayi-Samuel's QPR lost 1-0 at home to Sone Aluko's Reading. Bright saw 79 minutes of action for QPR, Sone Aluko made way for Michael Olise (the goal scorer) in the 66th minutes why Ovie Ejaria was on for the entire duration. Matthew Olosunde saw yellow as his side, Rotherham United won 2-0 at home against Bristol City to move 3 points above relegation zone. Matt Crooks (4) and Michael Smith (41) were the scorers. Dominic Iorfa and Moses Odubajo both started for Sheffield Wednesday in their 1-2 home loss to me who also paraded a Nigerian Victor Adeboyejo. Sheffield Wednesday remain at the rock bottom with 9 points why Barnsley moved to 13th with 25 points. And finally for the weekend, Wycombe Wanderers will remain in the bottom 3 after they lost at home 1-2 to Coventry City. Liam Kelly (34, 45) first half brace gave Coventry City a 2-0 lead going into the break but Joe Jacobson (61) reduced the deficit from the spot. Adebayo Akinfenwa will have to wait for another week for his first goal in the division.