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Newcastle draw as Forest, West Brom close the gap
Nottingham Forest and West Brom both won to close the gap on Newcastle United at the top of the Championship, after the Magpies could only draw 0-0 at home with Derby County.
A combination of Derby goalkeeper Stephen Bywater and the woodwork prevented the Championship leaders from restoring their eight-point advantage at the top.
On a frustrating night at St James' Park, Bywater saw Ryan Taylor's 11th-minute free-kick and substitute Nile Ranger's late volley come back off the crossbar, and also won a one-on-one duel with midfielder Taylor to secure a 0-0 draw for the strugglers.
West Brom narrowed the gap on the Magpies to five points with a 3-1 win at nine-man Scunthorpe thanks to a brace from Graham Dorrans, who would have had a hat-trick but for a missed penalty.
Dorrans grabbed his first in the 20th minute but the hosts were level almost immediately after the restart when Rob Jones volleyed in from close range.
Scunthorpe's chances of getting a result took a blow when Andrew Wright was dismissed for second bookable offence on the hour mark, and the visitors immediately made the extra man count as Dorrans fired them in front from the penalty spot.
Grant McCann became the second Scunthorpe player to be sent off when he was shown a straight red for foul and abusive language and Gianni Zuiverloon added a third for West Brom late on.
Nottingham Forest consolidated their third-place position as Robert Earnshaw and Dexter Blackstock fired them to a comfortable 2-0 victory over Coventry.
Peterborough pulled off an astonishing comeback to secure a 4-4 Championship draw at home to Cardiff after finding themselves four goals behind at half-time.
A brace from Joe Ledley, who had not scored since March, and goals from Jay Bothroyd and Peter Whittingham gave Cardiff a seemingly unassailable lead.
However, the hosts - who remain rooted to the bottom of the league table - gave themselves a glimmer of hope when Josh Simpson grabbed one back six minutes after the break and a fightback suddenly seemed possible when Charlie Lee added a second.
The comeback was completed right at the death when George Boyd volleyed home in the final minute and Simpson netted his second of the game in stoppage time.
Plymouth, also struggling at the wrong end of the Championship, also produced an astonishing four-goal haul, grabbing a first victory since November 7 with a 4-1 triumph over Reading.
They took the lead through an Alan Judge penalty before Kari Arnason doubled their advantage on the hour mark.
Reading grabbed one back minutes later thanks to Gylfi Sigurdsson but Judge immediately restored his side's two-goal advantage and Ashley Barnes made sure of the points seven minutes from time
Elsewhere, Barnsley came from behind to win 2-1 at Middlesbrough. Justin Hoyte gave the hosts a half-time lead but Stephen Foster headed his side level shortly after the break and Hugo Colace put them in front 10 minutes later.
A second-half brace from Jonathan Stead gave Ipswich a comfortable 3-1 victory at home to QPR with Jonathan Walters grabbing the opener early on.
Bristol City were held to a 2-2 draw by Watford. Goals from Danny Haynes and Paul Hartley either side of Tom Cleverley's volley looked to have given the Robins victory but John Eustace salvaged a point deep in stoppage time.
The hosts were forced to play the final 20 minutes with 10 men after Lewin Nyatanga was sent off for two bookable offences.
Sheffield United's game with Preston looked to be heading for a goaless draw until Jamie Ward broke the deadlock four minutes from time with a stunning free-kick.
There were no goals in Crystal Palace's clash at Swansea where home defender Albert Serran was sent off after 17 minutes.
