Birmingham gave their Sky Bet Championship survival hopes a huge boost with a 3-0 home win over Coventry which put a major dent in their visitors’ play-off hopes.
An own goal by Bobby Thomas in the 12th minute opened the scoring, Ivan Sunjic made it two three minutes before half-time and Jay Stansfield killed the contest with his 13th of the season.
The result was Blues’ biggest win since October – and only their second success in 11 – and moved them out of the relegation zone after Bristol City denied struggling Huddersfield with a last-gasp leveller.
Coventry’s third defeat in four left the FA Cup semi-finalists six points adrift of the top six with four games to go ahead of their big date at Wembley against Manchester United next weekend.
The Sky Blues threatened first with a firm, low angled drive from Milan van Ewijk that was deflected just wide.
Blues countered with a stabbed effort from Tyler Roberts and then a shot from Koji Miyoshi that brushed the side-netting.
And they soon got their noses in front.
Lee Buchanan’s throw-in on the left was worked to Roberts, who turned the ball inside for Keshi Anderson, whose cross hit Thomas and deflected in at the near post.
The closest Coventry came to scoring came in the 20th minute when Haji Wright hit the bar.
Goalkeeper John Ruddy came out of his box to head away a clearance, but only as far as Wright, whose volleyed lob bounced before hitting the woodwork.
Blues remained in the ascendancy and Stansfield twice should have done better instead of firing first over and then several feet wide from 20 yards.
Sunjic doubled the hosts’ lead with a rasping low drive from just inside the area after Paik Seung-ho’s corner was headed away by Liam Kitching, his effort catching keeper Bradley Collins unawares.
Coventry, following a triple substitution at half-time, began the second half looking much improved, creating two quick opportunities.
Kasey Palmer’s 25-yard drive was parried by Ruddy, then Ben Sheaf fired a rising effort over from just inside the area.
There was now an edge to the match and Stansfield and Van Ewijk were booked for shoving each other after the Blues striker was penalised when he thought he had won the ball back.
But Birmingham dashed any hopes of a Coventry comeback when Stansfield made it 3-0.
The on-loan Fulham forward clipped the ball past Collins after his superb diagonal run behind the defence which took him beyond Kitching was spotted by Roberts.
Vardy eyes 100-point season after Leicester's title win
Jamie Vardy has challenged his Leicester City team-mates to reach 100 points after sealing the Championship title with one game to spare.
The Foxes were promoted back to the Premier League without kicking a ball after Leeds United’s 4-0 defeat to QPR on Friday, but they needed to win on Monday to earn top spot.
Enzo Maresca’s side cruised to a 3-0 victory over Preston through Vardy’s brace and Kasey McAteer’s header, moving them to 97 points.
With one last milestone in their reach, Vardy wants to make sure they end an already successful season on a high.
Speaking to Sky Sports, he said: “We can celebrate it tonight, but now we have another target which is 100 points.
“We are over the moon. It has gone by quick but it's a graft. Not many days off, I'll tell you that.
“The lads - they've given it all. Thoroughly deserved, and I'm glad we've had 5000 to come and celebrate with us. It's not like it's 20 minutes up the road."
After a run of just three victories from nine games in the league between mid-February and April, Leicester have now won each of their last three outings.
Maresca has praised his players for their hard work in what he labelled a “tough season”.
“Fantastic, it's been a fantastic season. The Championship is a tough season and very intense, but I'm very happy," said Maresca.
"Now it's time to enjoy the work of the season to bring this special club back to the Premier League. We deserve it.
“The last two days they have been fantastic. We got promoted, but it was difficult in game preparation. But we used all of today to prepare for the game, the morning and afternoon. It was good.”
Barcelona 4-2 Valencia: Lewandowski hat-trick leads Barca to 4-2 win over 10-man Valencia
Barcelona striker Robert Lewandowski scored a second-half hat-trick to help his side fight back to claim a hard-fought 4-2 win over Valencia, who were leading 2-1 when they were reduced to 10 men just before the break.
Fermin Lopez's header from a Raphinha cross put Barca in front after 22 minutes, but Valencia's Hugo Duro struck in the 27th and Pepelu scored from the spot after a foul by Ronald Araujo 11 minutes later to give the visitors the lead.
But after Valencia keeper Giorgi Mamardashvili saw red for a handball outside the box before the break, Xavi's side dominated and Lewandowski scored with two headers from corners in the 49th and 82nd minutes before getting his treble with a free-kick in added time.
The win postponed Real Madrid's almost inevitable LaLiga title celebrations for a couple of weeks as Carlo Ancelotti's side sit atop the standings on 84 points.
Barcelona moved back to second in LaLiga on Monday with 73 points as they leapfrogged surprise package Girona, who are third with 71. Those two teams will meet in a Catalonia derby on Saturday.
Data debrief
Barcelona conceded two goals in the first half of a home game for the second time this season, after also doing so against Girona in LaLiga in December 2023.
However, Lewandowski's goals have been invaluable to La Blaugrana this season as he's earned 17 points with his 16 goals in the league.
Preston 0-3 Leicester City: Foxes seal Championship title in style
Leicester City cruised to a 3-0 win over Preston in the Championship on Monday to clinch the title with a game to spare.
Jamie Vardy was the star for the Foxes as he scored in both halves before Kasey McAteer made sure of the points with an unmarked header.
Abdul Fatawu had the chance to cap an already memorable night for the travelling fans but hit the post with his curler.
Preston slumped to a fourth consecutive defeat, while Leicester go into their final game against Blackburn Rovers with the knowledge that they will lift the trophy after the final whistle.
Data Debrief
Jamie Vardy has scored 18 goals this season (two in this game), more than any other Leicester player in the competition. He has also netted in his last three games, scoring four goals in total.
It was a dominant performance from the Foxes, who had 19 shots with 11 of those on target. At the other end, Preston only managed to test Jakub Stolarczyk once from their five attempts.
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