Daniel Farke admitted his Leeds side made life complicated in a 2-1 win over Plymouth at Elland Road which keeps them in the automatic promotion race.

Leeds controlled the first half but were nearly caught out after the Pilgrims grabbed a late goal.

Dan James gave Leeds an early lead as he curled in, and Joel Piroe doubled the advantage in another dominant first-half display which the home side failed to build on after the interval.

Substitute Ben Waine’s late consolation ensured a nervous finish for the home fans.

Farke said: “I take the three points all day long. If you would have offered me a 2-1 win before the game, I would have taken it.

“It was an outstanding win at Leicester and the training week was too easy. I was waiting for a sucker punch.

“The result was perfect and obviously when you are so dominant like we were in the first half and the chances we had in the second half, if you don’t score the goals in the second half there is a good and brave opponent who plays with freedom and goes for it.

“Our defending was excellent, in the second half they had one chance and they scored a goal. I was pleased we didn’t allow them one more chance to score. We made our life more complicated that it should have been.”

Leeds created plenty of early pressure and took the lead when James curled home from the edge of the area after Kaine Kesler-Hayden gave the ball away with 20 minutes gone.

Crysencio Summerville played in Piroe behind the Plymouth back line, and he slid the ball between goalkeeper Michael Cooper’s legs just before the half hour to make it 2-0.

Plymouth proved more of a threat in the second half and scored with five minutes remaining as Luke Cundle chased a ball down the right and crossed low for Waine to turn home from close range.

Steven Schumacher felt his side had acquitted themselves well against a team pushing for promotion to the Premier League.

He said: “For 20 minutes in the first half I thought we did OK. We limited Leeds to a few chances on goal.

“The only disappointing thing in the first half was the two errors in front of our own box.
Against a top team with quality players, we got punished.

“Second half obviously we were a bit better. We had nothing to lose with 25 minutes, half an hour to go. I am really pleased with the effort against a top team.”

Schumacher was happy with the impact of his substitutes.

He said: “We always say it whether you start a game or come off the bench it’s important you know your role. I thought Ben Waine gave us a focal point at the top end of the pitch.”

Schumacher also felt his side should have had a first-half penalty.

“The one when Bali (Mumba) went into the box you could hear the contact. I asked why that wasn’t a foul and was told it was a coming together. If we had gone in 2-1 at half time it would have given us confidence.

“Our lads give us absolutely everything they have got. When we got that goal, we had a great chance to get an equaliser. I’m proud of the lads that we kept going.”

Falkirk consolidated their place at the top of cinch League One with a 2-1 win over bottom club Edinburgh City.

Innes Murray had given the visitors an unexpected lead in the ninth minute.

Aidan Nesbitt, though, hauled the Bairns level just before half-time and Ross Maciver struck in the 66th minute to complete the turnaround.

Second-placed Hamilton kept up the pressure with a 5-0 win over Stirling at New Douglas Park, where Kevin O’Hara scored a hat-trick.

O’Hara opened the scoring in the 14th minute, with Euan Henderson doubling the lead ahead of half-time.

It was 3-0 when O’Hara struck again just before the hour, with Henderson then getting his second before O’Hara completed his treble with 12 minutes left.

Stirling finished with 10 men after a late red card for substitute Dale Hilson.

In-form Cove Rangers sit fourth after Rumarn Burrell’s early goal gave them a 1-0 win at Kelty Hearts, which was a fourth straight league victory.

Montrose were held to a 1-1 draw at home by strugglers Annan.

Tommy Goss put the visitors ahead from a first-half penalty, but Kerr Waddell had the Gable Endies level with 20 minutes left.

Alloa beat Queen of the South 1-0 with a goal from Alistair Roy just after the hour.

In League Two, Joe McKee’s late goal gave leaders Peterhead a 3-2 win over Stranraer.

Second-placed Dumbarton won 1-0 at East Fife with an early strike from Kalvin Orsi.

Matthew Aitken struck twice in the space of three minutes midway through the second half as Stenhousemuir battled to a 3-2 win over Spartans at Ochilview Park.

Elgin City climbed off the bottom with a 2-0 win over Bonnyrigg Rose, with goals either side of half-time from Rory MacEwan and Connal Ewan.

Clyde dropped to the foot of the table after a 1-1 draw at Forfar.

Connor Young put the Bully Wee ahead in the 71st minute which looked enough for a crucial win, only for Stuart Morrison to score an 89th-minute equaliser.

Jamie Reid scored the only goal of the game but Stevenage’s 1-0 win at Wycombe was overshadowed by serious injuries to two home players.

An aerial challenge between Boro captain Carl Piergianni and Wycombe forward Brandon Hanlan resulted in the latter being stretchered off with a shoulder injury.

The delay saw 14 minutes of additional time in the first half, during which Wanderers hit the crossbar after a Luke Leahy free-kick was flicked towards his own goal by Piergianni.

Max Stryjek was then forced into a low save from an Alex MacDonald effort before Kane Hemmings’ low cross was stabbed home by Reid in the final minute of stoppage time for his 13th of the season and fourth in as many games.

Wycombe huffed and puffed to find an equaliser as Tjay De Barr headed wide while David Wheeler smashed the bar with a first-time drive.

And with 10 minutes to go, the game entered another lengthy stoppage as Leahy received medical assistance before going off on a stretcher.

Stevenage saw out the remainder of the game to stay in the play-off places as Wycombe dropped to 12th.

Conor McGrandles scored a stoppage-time equaliser to earn Charlton a 2-2 draw at League One leaders Portsmouth in a pulsating game at Fratton Park.

Abu Kamara put Pompey ahead at the break and, after Alfie May levelled in the 71st minute, Colby Bishop quickly restored the lead from the spot.

But McGrandles struck in the third minute of added time to earn the Addicks a point.

Pompey’s early bombardment bore little fruit, with just an Alex Robertson effort to show for it.

Charlton grew more into the game and could have gone ahead with efforts from Miles Leaburn and May.

But in the 32nd minute Kamara fired beyond Ashley Maynard-Brewer from 20 yards to put Pompey ahead after a half-cleared corner.

Pompey were close to a second in the 57th minute when a Bishop header was pushed brilliantly over the crossbar by Maynard-Brewer.

Kamara and Bishop both hit the bar before Charlton equalised when May drove a shot between Will Norris’ legs.

Pompey regained the lead with a 76th-minute penalty after Maynard-Brewer clattered into Paddy Lane and Bishop scored the spot-kick.

But Charlton refused to lay down and McGrandles headed home to salvage a point.

Ipswich returned to winning ways and moved level on points with Championship leaders Leicester after coming from a goal down to beat Swansea 3-2.

Town, who had been held to back to back league draws after their Carabao Cup exit, fell behind after just seven minutes when Jay Fulton’s header found the back of the net.

But Jack Taylor’s wonderful long-range strike drew the teams level after 17 minutes, Conor Chaplin put them ahead five minutes later and George Hirst converted a second-half penalty.

Swansea’s Liam Cullen was sent off after receiving a second yellow card midway through the second half but the visitors still managed to pull one back through Jamal Lowe.

But Town held on for a victory that moved them level on points with the Foxes, who lost 1-0 at Middlesbrough.

Swansea took the lead when a free-kick by skipper Matt Grimes found Lowe and his cross was headed home by Fulton.

But Town struck back when Taylor, making his first home league start, rifled the ball into the net from 25 yards to record his first league goal for the Town.

Chaplin put Ipswich in front in the 22nd minute when he linked up with Hirst before squeezing the ball inside the near post.

Almost every outfield player was involved in a melee during a flashpoint in the game which resulted in referee Sunny Singh Gill, officiating in only his second Championship game, booking Chaplin and Wales international Cullen.

Town missed a wonderful opportunity to extend their lead after 36 minutes when Omari Hutchinson found space on the right and with just Carl Rushworth to beat crossed the ball just in front of a sliding and unmarked Nathan Broadhead.

Rushworth came to Swansea’s rescue just before the break when he palmed away a shot from Hirst and Grimes appeared to foul Taylor in the penalty area but the referee turned away strong appeals for a spot-kick.

Harrison Clarke had an effort disallowed following a corner by Leif Davis but Ipswich did extend their lead in the 53rd minute.

Cullen was adjudged to have been grappled by Newcastle loanee Harrison Ashby in the box and up stepped Hirst who fired past Rushworth to give the Town a deserved 3-1 lead.

Cullen was given his marching orders in the 69th minute after he fouled Davis just outside the penalty area but Chaplin’s free-kick went narrowly wide of the right-hand post.

As the game drew to a close, Swansea head coach Michael Duff was given a yellow card and Vaclav Hladky made his first save of the match from Lowe before the Swansea forward pulled a goal back in the fifth minute of stoppage time.

David Wotherspoon scored twice as in-form Inverness moved out of the Scottish Championship relegation spots with a 3-1 win over play-off chasing Ayr.

Wotherspoon opened the scoring in the 32nd minute with a close-range finish after Nathan Shaw’s effort fell into his path.

The forward added a second 11 minutes later with a deflected effort, taking his goal tally to three in as many games, before Billy McKay converted from the penalty spot on the stroke of half-time after Charlie Gilmour was fouled in the box by Paddy Reading.

Ayr pulled a goal back in the 60th minute courtesy of Jamie Murphy’s penalty following a foul on Ahkeem Rose, but could not prevent Inverness from extending their unbeaten run to five matches.

Ross Millen came back to haunt former club Queen’s Park with a late winner as 10-man Raith edged a topsy-turvy 3-2 Scottish Championship match at Hampden Park.

Lewis Vaughan broke the deadlock for the visitors six minutes before the break as he slotted Aidan Connolly’s assist into the bottom corner.

Just after the hour mark, Euan Murray was sent off for Raith for a foul on Ruari Paton.

With 20 minutes remaining, Queen’s Park made their advantage count as they equalised through Jack Turner’s fifth goal of the season in all competitions and – four minutes later – the hosts turned things around thanks to Paton’s close-range strike.

But Raith hit back with two late goals from Jack Hamilton and former Spiders defender Millen to steal maximum points.

Joe Edwards enjoyed an impressive start to life as Millwall manager as his side hammered Sheffield Wednesday 4-0 at Hillsborough.

Goals from Murray Wallace, George Saville, Wes Harding and Brooke Norton-Cuffy gave the Lions a convincing victory in Edwards’ first game at the club, while Wednesday’s miserable Championship campaign continues.

Wednesday manager Danny Rohl made two changes to the team that lost 1-0 at Bristol City last weekend, with Marvin Johnson and Ashley Fletcher coming in.

Edwards made just one switch from the side that lost at home to Southampton, with Ryan Longman joining the starting XI.

Wednesday’s best chance of the first half came when skipper Barry Bannan played in Anthony Musaba but he lost his composure and blazed well over the bar.

Millwall took the lead after 31 minutes. George Honeyman whipped in a corner from the left and Wednesday were nowhere to be seen, leaving Wallace completely unmarked for the defender to place a bullet header into the net.

Saville then doubled the advantage three minutes before the interval with a terrific effort from range. Cameron Dawson was at full stretch but the ball curled beautifully away from the Wednesday keeper.

Wednesday made a trio of changes after the break, with Jeff Hendrick and Josh Windass brought on and Bailey Cadamarteri making his first league appearance for the club to try and get the Owls back in the game, but the away side’s dominance continued.

Millwall added their third in the 52nd minute when Dawson spilled a cross and Harding was there to tap in from close range.

Owls fans were further frustrated when Windass had a penalty claim dismissed for an apparent handball in the Millwall penalty area.

Cadamarteri and Callum Paterson both had chances to get one back for Wednesday but Bartosz Bialkowski was there to save on both occasions.

Norton-Cuffy added further shine to the scoreline in the 72nd minute, driving in from the right and finishing calmly into the bottom corner. The home fans headed for the exits while the Millwall supporters were bouncing.

Victory sees Millwall move up the table to 15th but Wednesday remain rooted to the bottom of the table, Rohl with four losses out of his first five games at the club.

St Johnstone moved off the foot of the cinch Premiership table with a priceless 1-0 victory over Ross County at McDiarmid Park.

Graham Carey’s brilliant strike following a fantastic team move clinched Saints’ second win of the season and made it seven points from their last three league encounters.

Craig Levein’s side moved up into 10th place, a point ahead of County who now find themselves in the play-off position – while Livingston have dropped to bottom spot on goal difference.

Levein made one change to the side that were pegged back against Motherwell in midweek, James Brown returning to the starting eleven to replace Sven Sprangler.

Will Nightingale and Ben Purrington returned to the County defence in the place of the suspended James Brown and George Harmon, who began the game on the bench.

A tepid first half brought little in the way of entertainment, with neither side able to enjoy a sustained spell of possession.

The visitors had a penalty claim waved away after eight minutes when the ball appeared to strike the arm of Matt Smith.

It took until just before the half-hour mark for the first effort on goal, Carey skewing a low drive past the post.

Saints goalkeeper Dimitar Mitov had virtually been a spectator during the opening 42 minutes, though he was eventually worked when he comfortably held Scott Allardice’s shot from just outside the box – the first attempt on target of the game.

County boss Malky Mackay replaced Victor Loturi with Kyle Turner at the break in an attempt to inject some much-needed attacking spark into his team.

It was St Johnstone who began the second half the brighter of the two though, passing up two good opportunities within the space of a minute.

Nicky Clark’s overhead kick beat Ross Laidlaw before cannoning back off the crossbar prior to Carey being denied by the legs of the Staggies keeper.

The game was showing signs of opening up, and a swift break by the away side led to a good opportunity for Yan Dhanda who blazed over from a promising position.

Saints were dealt a blow on 62 minutes when Clark limped off after sustaining what appeared to be a calf injury, forcing Levein to introduce Stevie May in place of the in-form striker who had scored three goals in his last three appearances.

The opening goal arrived with 19 minutes remaining. Luke Robinson’s charging run led to May finding Carey on the edge of the box, and the midfielder curled a wonderful effort beyond the helpless visiting keeper.

May should have put the game out of sight after 85 minutes when he linked with Daniel Phillips, but he fired his effort straight at the County keeper.

The home supporters erupted on the final whistle, as they had the opportunity to savour three points that could prove to be very significant come the end of the season.

Everton beat Crystal Palace 3-2 at Selhurst Park as Idrissa Gueye’s goal four minutes from time capped a superb away performance from Sean Dyche’s team.

Palace twice came from behind, with Eberechi Eze’s penalty quickly cancelling out Vitalii Mykolenko’s early opener and Odsonne Edouard capitalising on a howler from James Tarkowski to level up after Abdoulaye Doucoure’s goal.

But they had no answer a third time after Gueye kept his cool to seal victory and propel his side to consecutive away wins.

It all came after an electric start. Palace failed to clear their lines as Mykolenko’s shot was blocked, and as the ball broke wide on the right the Ukrainian found space inside the box and climbed highest to nod Jack Harrison’s cross past Sam Johnstone after just 55 seconds.

Palace fans may have been stunned but their team quickly hit back.

Within three minutes they were level, and it was Eze, back in the side after a hamstring injury, who danced into Everton’s box and drew a foul from Jarrad Branthwaite.

VAR checked and saw no reason to overturn referee Sam Barrott’s penalty award, leaving the Eze the task of calmly rolling the ball past Jordan Pickford.

Selhurst Park howled for a second spot-kick when Eze again went down under apparent pressure inside the box. This time the referee deemed the forward had dived, and rather than a penalty, a yellow card was Eze’s reward.

Edouard forced Pickford into a save low to his right in added time at the end of the half in what was a rare instance of attacking threat from the home team.

Everton had won three of their previous six in the league, and after the frustration of failing to hold on to their early lead they began the second half in similarly urgent fashion.

A corner from the visitors’ right was cleared only to the edge of the box, where Amadou Onana scooped the ball square to Mykolenko. For the second time in the game he was given too much time to line up an effort on goal, and as his volley cannoned back off a post there was Doucoure unmarked to tap home.

The advantage looked fragile. On the hour mark, Mykolenko and Gueye almost produced a comical own-goal, getting in one another’s way as Jeffrey Schlupp’s cross dropped into the box and they required Pickford’s fingertips to keep them from bundling the ball over their own goal line.

Edouard was growing as a threat and with 25 minutes to go he handed Jefferson Lerma a golden chance to level, coming inside from the left of the box and cutting the ball back, only for Lerma, free on the edge of the box, to fire wide.

Michael Oliseh came off the bench for his first appearance of the season and drew a roar of anticipation from around Selhurst Park with a shot from 20 yards that deflected narrowly over.

Palace were by now dominant, and their second equaliser came courtesy of a defensive calamity. A high, headed ball into the box looked an easy mop-up job for Tarkowski, but rather than nod it clear he left the ball for his goalkeeper, and in stole Edouard to tap home.

Still Palace could not hold on to their point, and Everton roared back at them once more with four minutes to go, this time decisively.

Doucoure received the ball in midfield and looked up to see Gueye racing through the centre. Doucoure’s pass was weighted expertly and Gueye needed barely to break stride as he evaded Tyrick Mitchell’s lunging challenge and guided it beyond Johnstone.

Airdrie secured a first Scottish Championship win in six matches with a 2-0 victory at home to Arbroath.

The Diamonds took the lead after 19 minutes when Liam McStravick slotted home the loose ball after Nikolay Todorov’s shot had been saved by Derek Gaston.

The Arbroath goalkeeper pulled off a superb save to keep out a Todorov header in the 35th minute and Adam Frizzell was inches away from a second on the hour.

Lewis McGregor did make it two for the Diamonds with 11 minutes remaining when Calum Gallagher threaded the ball through for the midfielder to coolly slot past the keeper.

Partick Thistle condemned basement club Morton to their third straight cinch Championship defeat after edging to a 2-1 victory at Firhill Stadium.

The hosts got off to a rapid start when Kerr McInroy fired in from the edge of the area in the third minute.

Morton were level in the 32nd minute through Grant Gillespie’s spot-kick after former Scotland international Kirk Broadfoot was felled in the penalty area.

Veteran Thistle striker Brian Graham, who was already on yellow card when he was substituted off in the 72nd minute, was dismissed two minutes later despite not being on the field.

But the home side claimed all three points through Blair Alston’s strike with 13 minutes remaining to secure successive league wins.

Reading’s woeful away form continued after Jason Sraha snatched a late winner for Shrewsbury in a dramatic 3-2 victory.

The Royals opened the scoring in the 12th minute.

David Button’s goal-kick was brought down by Sam Smith inside the area and he powered it into the back of the net off a post.

Reading doubled their advantage inside 15 minutes as Andy Yiadom stood up a floated cross into the box. Goalkeeper Marko Marosi attempted to catch, but Dominic Ballard won the aerial duel and headed it home.

Shrewsbury pulled a goal back in the 33rd minute. Max Mata dispossessed a defender and the New Zealand international laid the ball off to Tom Bayliss, who converted from a tight angle.

The Shrews, in time added on, grabbed an equaliser through a corner routine which concluded with Chey Dunkley bundling home inside the box.

But with virtually the last kick of the game, Sraha stabbed home to win it for Matt Taylor’s side.

Oxford secured their sixth away win in Sky Bet League One as a 3-2 triumph at Leyton Orient gave interim manager Craig Short the perfect start.

A brace from Ruben Rodrigues and one from Billy Bodin proved decisive, with the hosts replying with a Fin Stevens own goal and a strike from Ruel Sotiriou.

A howler by Sol Brynn presented the visitors – who saw boss Liam Manning take over at Bristol City this week – with the opening goal. The goalkeeper’s intended clearance was directed straight to Rodrigues, who drove the ball into an empty net.

Then in the second minute of first-half stoppage time, Rodrigues struck a post but the ball fell to Bodin, who headed the ball into the net from 15 yards out with Brynn stranded.

Within two minutes of the start of the second half, Oxford extended their advantage when Orient failed to clear a corner and Rodrigues scored from close range in the 47th minute before the home side began their revival a minute later.

A teasing Tom James cross was turned into his own net by Stevens and then, in the 64th minute, Sotiriou volleyed home a header by Aaron Drinan before Dan Happe was denied an equaliser when his header struck a post.

Despite coming under sustained pressure, the U’s held out to maintain their automatic promotion quest.

Dundee made it two cinch Premiership wins in a row as they swept St Mirren aside 4-0 at Dens Park.

The victory came thanks to an Amadou Bakayoko double with Zak Rudden netting from the penalty spot and substitute Zach Robinson scoring a fourth late on.

The win moved Dundee up to fifth in the Premiership table, just two points behind the Buddies in third.

Dens manager Tony Docherty made just one change from the side that beat Livingston last Sunday with Malachi Boateng coming in for Mo Sylla, who dropped to the bench.

Buddies boss Stephen Robinson also made one change to the team that drew with Hibs in midweek with Keanu Baccus replacing ill skipper Mark O’Hara.

The hosts wasted a gilt-edged opportunity to open the scoring in the second minute when Rudden robbed St Mirren defender Richard Taylor but with just keeper Zach Hemming to beat, the striker smacked his shot off the post.

However, the Dark Blues had another chance in the 16th minute – and this time they took it.

Owen Beck swung a corner in from the left with the ball only being cleared as far as Bakayoko, who clinically drilled a low shot past Hemming and into the back of the net.

The Buddies looked to respond with Conor McMenamin making room for a shot but he dragged his effort wide of home keeper Trevor Carson’s left-hand post.

As the half-hour mark approached, both sides were struggling to carve out further clear-cut chances with too many attacks breaking down before they had fully developed.

However, the Dark Blues doubled their advantage in first-half stoppage time.

Another Beck corner was headed on by Antonio Portales with the ball hitting Marcus Fraser’s arm and referee Matthew MacDermid had no hesitation in pointing to the spot.

Rudden stepped up to take responsibility and hit an empathic penalty into the back of the net, sending Hemming the wrong way.

Buddies boss Robinson rang the changes at the break, bringing on four subs, but the Dark Blues scored their third of the afternoon in the 57th minute.

Rudden broke down the right and hit a fierce shot that was saved by the diving Hemming but Bakayoko was on hand to gleefully slot home the rebound.

Dundee did net their fourth in the 85th minute to complete a miserable day for St Mirren, with Luke McCowan breaking forward before laying off a pass to Robinson, who shot past Hemming for his first Premiership goal of the season.