Cardiff and Middlesbrough closed the gap on West Brom and Newcastle to a solitary point as the Coca-Cola Championship's top two clubs both lost tonight.

Cardiff's 2-0 win at home to Coventry - after goals from Anthony Gerrard (five) and a Peter Whittingham penalty on the hour - was all the more valuable following Newcastle's surprise 2-1 defeat at Scunthorpe and West Brom's equally unexpected 1-0 setback at home to Swansea.

Similarly, there was good reason for Middlesbrough celebration too after Adam Johnson struck twice - with a 22nd-minute penalty and then again just before the hour - to put them within a whisker of the top of the table after a 2-0 win over Derby.

The Magpies came unstuck at Glanford Park, where Martyn Woolford's goals after 53 minutes and 79 minutes ruined their night and Kevin Nolan's goal after 65 minutes did not do enough to save them.

The architect of West Brom's downfall was painfully familiar, Swansea's Craig Beattie scoring the only goal of the game against his old team at The Hawthorns.

There was another bitter blow for Roy Keane as his Ipswich side again let a lead slip, this time in the 90th minute to end up with only a point from a 1-1 draw at home to Watford.

The Blues remain bottom of the pile after Nathan Ellington's equaliser in the fourth minute of second-half stoppage-time for the Hornets, after Gareth McAuley's fifth-minute effort had seemed destined to ease some of the pressure on Keane.

Preston stayed on the heels of the top teams with a 2-1 win at Sheffield Wednesday, who were one of only two teams to lose at home.

Goals from Neil Mellor (20) and Jon Parkin (55) did the trick, with Michael Gray (38) giving the Owls only fleeting hope.

Nottingham Forest left it late before they too put themselves in the thick of the battle amid the top-of-the-table congestion.

Guy Moussi was the matchwinner with a 90th-minute strike in a 1-0 victory at home to Barnsley - only to be sent off for a second bookable offence as he celebrated his achievement.

Blackpool were another team to make ground on the leaders - with a 3-0 lead at home to Sheffield United thanks to Marcel Seip (60), Jason Euell (69) and Charlie Adam (82).

Paul Gallacher (59 and 81) scored both goals in Leicester's 2-0 win at home to Crystal Palace, which kept them in touch with all the other pace-setters.

Bristol City are still ninth - albeit only three points off the top - after their 3-1 win at home to Plymouth, all the goals coming in a six-minute second-half spell.

Danny Haynes (73), Jamie McCombe (76) and Nicky Maynard (79) scored for City - and Jamie Mackie (75) for the Pilgrims.

QPR were 4-1 winners at home to struggling Reading in a match which finished with both teams down to 10 men.

Rangers' Akos Buzsaky scored the first goal from a free-kick just before the half-hour, seconds after Ben Wilson had been sent off for a second booking when he tried to take the shot too quickly.

Jay Simpson (39), Rowan Vine (71) and Patrick Agyemang (83) completed the hosts' tally - Brian Howard (86) with the Royals' consolation after their defender Ivar Ingimarsson had been sent off for a second yellow card.

Goals from Billy Sharp (17), Dean Shiels (21) and Jason Shackell (85) gave Doncaster a 3-1 success at home to Peterborough. Aaron McLean netted a 32nd-minute goal for Posh.