Birmingham beat Millwall as Norwich hit four past struggling Derby

Birmingham and Norwich both built decisive first-half leads on Tuesday as they continued their winning form in the Championship. Birmingham defeated Millwall 3-0 at St Andrew’s, while Norwich won 4-0 away to Derby at Pride Park, according to the Guardian’s roundup of the evening’s matches. The results extended strong runs for both winning sides and deepened Derby’s difficulties.

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Alex Cochrane gave Birmingham the lead inside the opening minute. Max Bird and Jay Stansfield also scored before the interval, with all three goals coming from left-footed finishes. Birmingham secured their sixth victory in eight games and remained unbeaten through their first seven Championship home matches of the season. The win came despite the absence of August Priske, their seven-goal striker, with a knee problem.

Norwich also scored three times before half-time, with Anthony Musaba, Paris Maghoma and Darlin Yongwa giving the visitors control. Substitute Jovon Makama added the fourth to complete Norwich’s third consecutive victory. Derby, by contrast, suffered their fourth defeat in five matches and have won only once this season, leaving head coach John Eustace facing another difficult result on his 47th birthday.

Eustace acknowledged his frustration after the defeat but said he would not quit and believed the squad could produce more. Derby’s next home assignment is against Bolton on Friday night. Bolton will go into that fixture after a 1-0 win at Charlton, where Sam Dalby scored his sixth goal of the season. Charlton’s fourth consecutive Championship defeat left them 21st and extended their winless run to 11 matches.

Watford also earned a 1-0 victory, beating Lincoln at Vicarage Road through Stephy Mavididi’s first goal for the club. The on-loan winger scored with a deflected effort less than a minute after the restart. It was only Watford’s second win in eight games and their second clean sheet since March, providing a welcome result for head coach Alessio Dionisi.

Elsewhere, Southampton recovered to draw 1-1 at West Brom. Isaac Price’s penalty, his fifth goal of the season, put the hosts ahead after an opening half in which Southampton did not register a shot. Samuel Edozie equalised after the break. Both teams extended their unbeaten runs but missed the opportunity to move into the top two with a victory.