Championship table: Wayne Rooney's Derby County survive relegation

The play-off places in the English second tier are set but there is still plenty to play for the in the relegation battle.

7:31pm on Saturday 8th May 2021
By Martin Macdonald

Wayne Rooney’s Derby County survived relegation to League One in an enthralling final day showdown against Sheffield Wednesday.

Both sides went into the game knowing that defeat would cost one of them a place in The Championship next season.

In the end, a game that swung backwards and forwards ended in a 3-3 draw, which was sufficient to keep Rooney’s side in the league for another season, whilst condemning Wednesday to relegation.

Wednesday took the lead just before half time; before Derby struck back twice in the first seven minutes of the second half. Wednesday had their own seven minute purple patch, as they scored twice to equalise and then turn the game around in the 62nd and 69th minute.

Martyn Waghorn converted a penalty with 12 minutes remaining that confirmed Derby’s status in the division.

It’s been a bad year for the city of Sheffield, with United also being relegated from the Premier League.

Elsewhere, Wycombe Wanderers were also victims of Derby’s draw, as they went down into League One despite beating Middlesbrough 3-0 at the Riverside Stadium.

Rotherham Town were also relegated, as they could only draw with Cardiff City.

The playoff places had already been decided before the final day of the season, but Barnsley leaped ahead of Bournemouth to claim fifth spot in the table following a 2-2 draw against already-promoted Norwich. Bournemouth lost 2-0 at home to Stoke City.

Elsewhere, Watford 2-0 won at home to Swansea City and Brentford won away to Bristol City.

Coventry City recorded the biggest win of the day, hammering Millwall 6-1, but neither side had anything to play for.

This was also the case for QPR and Luton, who met in a London derby. QPR emerged with a 3-1 victory, and ended the season in 9th place.

Blackburn also recorded a big win against Birmingham, with the Lancashire side winning 5-2 at Ewood Park.

Reading and Huddersfield played out a 2-2 draw. Preston saw off the challenge of Nottingham Forest, winning 2-1 to secure 13th place.

FULL Championship STATISTICS:

Championship Table: Standings, Player Stats, Fixtures and Results