In British English:
In his first victory as Blackburn manager, John Eustace’s side dealt Sunderland a significant 5-1 defeat at the Stadium of Light, providing some relief for the relegation-pressured Rovers.
Sammie Szmodics, the Championship season’s lead scorer, put the first two goals past Sunderland, bringing his season total to 23. Both goals were fast and furious in the first half, paving the way for Ryan Hedges and Tyrhys Dolan to seal the point win with their strikes in the second half’s opening minutes.
Sunderland scored a late consolation goal from substitute Chris Rigg, 13 minutes before the close, before Andrew Moran, another substitute from Blackburn, hit their fifth four minutes later. The triumphant match not only marks Eustace’s maiden win but separates Rovers from the relegation zone by five points.
The score tipped in Blackburn’s favour just prior to 30 minutes in when Patrick Roberts, freshly back after a two-month hamstring injury, setup Szmodics to drive his shot past Anthony Patterson and into the corner. Soon thereafter, Szmodics pocketed the second for Blackburn with a cutback from Joe Rankin-Costello six yards out.
Sunderland were desperate for the half-time break after an excellent save from Patterson, and were faced with the ire of the home crowd.
The home support were despondent when Blackburn extended their lead with two more goals within 10 minutes of the half restart. The third was skillfully crafted and completed by Hedges, who received the ball back from Sam Gallagher after winning it and found the back of the net. Dolan’s fourth goal followed after Dan Neil lost control of the ball. Dolan’s polished execution found the net off the post.
Sunderland manager, Mike Dodds reacted quickly to the scoreline by calling on Jack Clarke, Rigg and former Blackburn forward Bradley Dack.
In the 77th minute, when Dack’s header was blocked, Rigg seized the opportunity to balance the score. Yet, Blackburn quickly retaliated and Moran crowned the game with a score, following an imperfect conclusion by Szmodics.
Leicester managed to reassert their footing in the race towards outright success towards Premier League, defeating Norwich 3-1 in a home victory, made decisive by Jamie Vardy.
In spite of the general momentum, Gabriel Sara of Norwich managed the first goal, cunningly striking Marcelino Nunez’s 20-minute corner past goalie Mads Hermansen. However, the lead was brief with Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall balancing out the score for Leicester 12 minutes ahead of halftime.
A superb finish by Stephy Mavididi saw the hosts surge ahead in the 61st minute, but the resounding victory wasn’t secured until the last minutes of extra time when substitute Jamie Vardy scored, bringing the tally to 3-1, and re-establishing Leicester’s superior league position ahead of Ipswich’s face-off with Southampton, and Leeds’ home match vs Hull.