QPR put their off-field issues to one side to extend their advantage at the summit of the npower Championship courtesy of a hard-fought 2-1 victory in their London derby with Crystal Palace.
QPR could face a possible points deduction after the Football Association this week charged them, along with chairman Gianni Paladini, with breaches of regulations relating to third-party ownership and agents over the signing of Alejandro Faurlín.
Adel Taarabt put in a virtuoso performance, setting up Heidar Helguson to open the scoring before winning a penalty to allow the Iceland striker to net his second after the interval.
Patrick McCarthy saw red on the back of that incident as Crystal Palace’s challenge petered out after James Vaughan had restored parity on the stroke of half-time.
Second-placed Swansea City, meanwhile, suffered a 2-1 defeat at struggling Derby County.
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Ashley Williams’s early own goal set Derby on their way to a first home victory since November and extended promotion-chasing Swansea’s winless streak to three games.
Steven Davies doubled the home side’s advantage from Conor Doyle’s corner in the second half, before substitute Darren Pratley grabbed what proved to be a mere consolation.
By comparison, Leicester City reignited their promotion challenge as a brace from Miguel Vitor, the Portugual defender, helped Sven-Goran Eriksson’s side to a deserved 3-0 victory at Scunthorpe United.
Leicester’s hopes of a top-six finish had been hurt by a run of three defeats in four matches, but they returned to winning ways in emphatic style thanks to Vitor’s double and Kyle Naughton’s 76th-minute effort.
Hull City are another side with the play-offs in their sights after securing a 1-0 victory at Coventry City to set a new club record for unbeaten away league matches.
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Aaron Mclean’s 33rd-minute finish was the bright point of a scrappy clash at the Ricoh Arena that extended Hull’s unbeaten away streak to 14 games, beating the previous record set during the 1948-49 season.
Elsewhere, Leeds United were held to a goalless draw at Elland Road by Paul Jewell’s Ipswich Town, while neither Portsmouth nor Middlesbrough managed to break the deadlock at Fratton Park.
Nottingham Forest’s clash with Doncaster Rovers also ended goalless, but Millwall had no such problems finding the back of the net.
Paul Robinson scored a second-half double as the Lions ended Burnley’s three-match winning run and secured their first npower Championship away victory in ten attempts.
There was still time for Andros Townsend to claim a late third for the visitors, who were good value for their victory after an outstanding second-half display.
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Finally, Sheffield United’s chances of avoiding relegation were dealt a further blow as they were beaten 3-0 away to Watford after going down to nine men before half-time.
Manager Micky Adams recalled striker Darius Henderson and midfielder Lee Williamson to his starting XI against their former club but was left to regret his decision as the former Watford pairing both saw red in the space of six minutes.
Striker Danny Graham had already put the home side ahead after some dreadful defending gifted him his 23rd goal of the season and second-half goals from Martin Taylor and Ross Jenkins made sure.