Portsmouth sent early Championship relegation challenge after late Sheffield Wednesday and Plymouth drama

Portsmouth will go into Sunday’s meeting with West Bromwich Albion as part of the Championship’s bottom three after an eventful Saturday across the division.

Plymouth Argyle were the biggest winners among those in the bottom half, with a 3-2 win at home to Sunderland coming in dramatic fashion. Wayne Rooney’s first victory as Pilgrims boss looked to have evaporated when Romaine Mundle made it 2-2 on 86 minutes, cancelling out what should have been Ryan Hardie’s winner from the penalty spot.

But there was still ample time for late drama, with Joe Edwards finding the net in added-time to hand Plymouth what could prove a massive first win of the campaign. The Three points from that victory pulled Rooney’s side from 23rd to 16th at this early juncture, leapfrogging Pompey in the process.

The other bottom-half winners were Luton Town, who themselves climbed out of the relegation zone with a first win of the season at Millwall. Teden Mengi scored the only goal of a significantly less eventful game, curling a wonderful effort beyond Lukas Jensen and into the bottom corner.

As with Plymouth, victory allowed Luton to leapfrog Pompey who have fallen into 22nd, albeit with a game in hand over everyone around them. Sheffield Wednesday also climbed over John Mousinho’s side but will be left kicking themselves having gone 1-0 up at home to QPR through Barry Bannan on 93 minutes before conceding a 96th-minute equaliser via Alfie Lloyd.

Preston North End were below Pompey on goal difference but pulled one point and one place clear after drawing 1-1 at Middlesbrough. Tommy Conway opened the scoring for Michael Carrick’s side before Mads Frøkjær-Jensen levelled, both goals coming in the opening 45 minutes.

Bottom-placed Cardiff City remain winless and lost a fourth game in five at Derby County thanks to Kenzo Goudmijn’s decisive effort, with Pompey’s former League One promotion rivals climbing up to eighth with that win. Oxford United also picked up three points on Saturday, beating Stoke City 1-0 at the Kassam Stadium.

Further up the league, Burnley could stake a claim for result of the weekend with a hard-fought 1-0 win at Leeds United. Luca Koleosho scored the only goal inside the first-half as Scott Parker’s side sat back and absorbed pressure with an excellent performance on the road.

Blackburn Rovers climbed into second-place with a comfortable 3-0 win over Bristol City, while play-off hopefuls Watford and Coventry City drew 1-1 at Vicarage Road and Swansea City won 1-0 at home to Norwich City. Pompey face a huge challenge in hosting promotion contenders West Brom on Sunday but can take hope from Plymouth's win over Sunderland, knowing victory could pull them up to 12th. A point would see them end the week in 19th.